Agence France Trésor announced today the successful syndication of the fourth French sovereign green bond with a maturity of 25 years. The Green OAT 3.00% 25 June 2049 issuance amount at a yield of 3.201% reached an all-time high of €8 billion, bringing the total amount of green OATs issued to date to €69.9 billion.
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Industrial and Digital Sovereignty said on this occasion: "Since their launch, green bonds have been an important source of financing to support the green transition and the decarbonisation of our economy. The issue of such bonds has already helped to support major measures introduced by the government, such as the ecological car bonus and MaPrimeRénov[1]. The successful creation of this fourth green bond confirms France's leading role in the sustainable finance market.
Lead managers for this operation were BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, Crédit Agricole CIB, J.P. Morgan and Société Générale. All primary dealers were part of the syndicate.
After the opening of the order book on Tuesday early morning and its completion at midday, total demand reached more than €98bn, of which €8bn were allocated.
The price has been set at 96.53, reflecting a yield of 3.201% at issuance.
The allocation illustrates the diversity and the quality of the investor base of the French sovereign debt. Nearly 470 final investors took part in the operation. The syndicated amount has been allocated to asset managers for 23%, insurers for 23%, pension funds for 20%, banks for 20%, official institutions for 12% and hedge funds for 2%. According to the lead managers, around two thirds of the €8bn issued have been allocated to green investors.
The geographical distribution of investors shows strong domestic and European demand, including investors from France (20%), the Netherlands (16%), Germany (7%), Italy (7%), other Eurozone countries (10%), the United Kingdom (18%), Nordic countries (12%), other European countries (7%), and the rest of the world (3%).
Further details
The settlement date for the OAT is 23 January 2024. The bond will be strippable and quoted on Euronext Paris. It will be tapped to guarantee sufficient market liquidity, depending on market demand, up to the limit of Eligible Green Expenditures.
Framework for France’s Green Bonds
Green OATs target State budget spending on climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change, biodiversity protection and pollution control, in line with the Energy Transition and Green Growth Act and France's commitment to implement the Paris Agreement. The selection grid for Green Eligible Expenditures is defined in the framework document for the State's green bonds.
The amount of Green Eligible Expenditures to which the State's 2024 green bond issues will be matched will amount to €15 billion for the year 2024.
AFT will ensure the liquidity of this new green OAT through subsequent reopenings. The outstanding amount of this Green OAT will grow accordingly. In addition, AFT will continue to tap its three other existing green bonds, whose outstanding amount currently stands at €61.9 billion, in response to investor demand. All of these issues will be within the limit of the amount of Green Eligible Expenditures.
The State's green debt securities will continue to contribute to the State financing programme published in December 2023, in the same way as other OATs.
For more complete information about the Green OATs, visit the Agence France Trésor’s website.
Contact:
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[1] Financing solutions to support households in their energy renovation work