Stockholm (NordSIP) – In its first green transaction of 2022, MuniFin issued a €500 million 7-year green bond on May 10th. MuniFin is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions and is owned by the Finnish municipalities, Keva – a local government pension institution- and the central government.
This week’s green bond pays a 1.5% coupon and was over twice oversubscribed. The transaction was priced at a 99.622 discount, 11 basis points (bps) below Mid-Swap, 3 bps below guidance. The securities provided a re-offer yield of 1.559%, which represented an attractive 74.3bps spread over the underlying German government bond. Green investors made up 78% of the allocated orderbook. BNPP, Danske Bank, NatWest, SEB acted as joint lead managers on this transaction.
Geographically, Demand was relatively split. German, Austrian and Swiss-domiciled investors purchased 25% of the securities, followed by investors from the Benelux (23% and the Nordics (16%). Investors from France (12%), the UK (6%), other European countries (5%) and non-European countries(13%) purchased the rest. Sectorally, central banks and official institutions were dominant, purchasing 38% of the green bonds, followed by asset managers (24%), banks (22%) and pension and insurance companies (16%).
“The multiple times oversubscribed transaction shows us, once again, how solid our investor base truly is. Despite the volatile atmosphere in the market, our green bond attracted also brand new investors. We are extremely pleased with the outcome and especially the great support from the ESG investor community”, says Analyst Lari Toppinen from MuniFin funding team.
MuniFin issued its inaugural green bond in 2016 and aims to issue one benchmark size green bond per year. The Finnish institution’s Green Framework (2019) is aligned with the Green Bond Principles and has a second opinion with a Medium Green shading from CICERO Shades of Green.
“Congratulations to MuniFin on their highly impressive return to the EUR Green Bond market. With final pricing through fair value and a large and high-quality orderbook in challenging market conditions, this truly demonstrates the strength of the credit and the support that MuniFin enjoys from the ESG focused investor community. Danske Bank is proud to have been part in this successful transaction,” adds Axel Zetterblom, SSA Origination, Danske Bank.
“SEB is delighted to have taken part in MuniFin’s latest triumph in the EUR Green bond market. Despite significant market volatility creating a challenging backdrop, the transaction garnered a high-quality, multiple times subscribed order book, and a final reoffer level through the fair value curve. This is a clear demonstration of MuniFin’s long-standing reputation amongst the ESG investor community,” concludes Rebekah Bray, Deputy Head of SSA Origination, SEB
