The energy transmission and exchange group EPSO-G went public on the capital markets and issued a sustainability-linked bond issue and in this way is set to raise 75 million euros. This is the first sustainability-linked bond issue in the Baltic States.
The five-year bonds with a yield of 3.117 per cent were purchased by institutional investors from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Sweden, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) purchased almost one-third of the issue for 22.5 million euros.
According to Algirdas Juozaponis, CFO and interim CEO of EPSO-G, the funds raised will be used to finance strategic energy projects implemented by the group of companies and, at the same time, to strengthen Lithuania’s energy independence.
“The issuance of sustainability-linked bonds has allowed EPSO-G to diversify its financing portfolio and will make a significant contribution to EPSO-G’s sustainability goals, ensuring greater reliability of the transmission grids, the reduction of the environmental impact and the acceleration of the enablement of climate-neutral energy”, he said.
In preparation for the bond issuance, the rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a Baa1 credit rating with a stable outlook to EPSO-G. The assigned high investment-grade rating reflects the strong financial position of the state-owned Group, its relatively low debt level and the fact that the majority of its revenue derives from regulated transmission network activities.
