TCorp’s $1.8b sustainable bond oversubscribed

A $1.8 billion ‘use of proceeds’ bond issued by TCorp for sustainable NSW government projects has been over-subscribed by $740 million, the NSW public sector financing agency says.

TCorp launched the 1.25 per cent sustainability bond on Wednesday, a year after the release of its inaugural green bond.

David Deverall

The green bond, issued in November 2018, was oversubscribed by $767 million, making it the largest single green bond ever issued on the Australian dollar market.

Proceeds of the current sustainability bond have been earmarked for five new sustainable water and wastewater management programs and two social programs designed to improve access to essential services.

The green projects include Green Square Trunk Stormwater Improvement, Astrolabe Park Stormwater Improvement, Strangers Creek Stormwater Improvement, Powells Creek Naturalisation and Cooks River Naturalisation.

The social projects include the Transport Access Program and the Schools Program.

The new projects have been added to the three projects that were part of last year’s inaugural green bond – the Sydney Metro Northwest, Newcastle Light Rail and Lower South Creek Treatment Program.

ANZ, BofA Merrill Lynch and NAB are the lead managers for the transaction.

“We’re absolutely delighted by the positive results we’ve achieved with our inaugural sustainability bond to support the NSW Government’s infrastructure plans. Investors have embraced the social assets introduced to complement the green assets in the pool,” TCorp chief executive David Deverall said.

Head of Funding and Balance Sheet Fiona Trigona said the sustainability bond attracted 56 investors.

“We also picked up new investors – a good achievement and testament to the fact that investors are genuinely interested in high quality, sustainable investing over the longer term,” she said.

Sixty-two per cent of investors were asset managers and 87 per cent of investors were Australian.

Mr Deverall said the agency is currently helping the NSW government deliver $93 billion worth of  infrastructure projects that are in keeping with the NSW government’s environmental and social objectives and global standards and principles.

Investors are genuinely interested in high quality, sustainable investing over the longer term.

TCorp’s Sustainability Bond Program was established in 2018 and is the only program of its type among semi-government issues in Australia.

The first Sustainability Bond Program Annual Report issued in October reported that $1.6 billion of the TCorp green bond was allocated towards the Sydney Metro Northwest, $100 million went to the Newcastle Light Rail and the Quakers Hill and St Marys water recycling plants received $90 million.

TCorp manages approximately $105 billion of financial assets and $72 billion of debt on behalf of the NSW government.

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