The shareholders were invited to vote at the general meeting for the transformation of 5.6 billion euros of outstanding debt. 82% of the 10 billion debt of the real estate company now includes a CSR component.
All Gecina's bonds are now green. The real estate company headed by Meka Brunel has asked its bondholders to reclassify the 15 strains of outstanding bonds as "Green Bonds". They voted 92 % at a general meeting in favour of this transformation.
"The result demonstrates investors' confidence in Gecina's CSR strategy", the company is pleased to say.
Crédit Agricole and Allen & Overy
Crédit Agricole CIB and Allen & Overy acted as advisors to Gecina in this transaction.
The company also undertakes to issue all future securities in the same format.
"This pioneering program aims to support the continuous and global improvement of the Group's asset portfolio, including its existing assets, and its environmental performance. It is based on an ambitious and dynamic Green Bond Framework which was the subject of a second opinion issued by ISS Corporate Solutions"Gecina explains.
Green Bond Framework
Published last April and available on the company's website, this Green Bond Framework is aligned with the Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and its four pillars: use of funds raised, project selection and evaluation process, management of funds raised and reporting.
ISS-ESG, the responsible investment arm of the corporate governance and voting advisory firm, has been mandated to review the relevance, transparency and methodology of Gecina's Green Bond Framework and its alignment with ICMA's Green Bond Principles (GBP), the document says.
Bank outstandings with HSBC
An audit will also be carried out by an independent auditor on 31 December of each year.
For this transaction, Gecina also signed two amendments to transform 475 million euros of outstanding bank debt with HSBC into "responsible lines".
Responsible bank loans thus represent 60% of the Group's outstanding bank loans," adds Gecina. And 82% of the Group's 10 billion euros of debt include a CSR component.
The average maturity of Gecina's debt is 7.1 years. The Group has 4.5 billion euros of undrawn credit lines to meet its maturities until mid-2024.
A first
" This innovative programme is a first. It makes Gecina one of the few companies in the world to have an entirely green euro bond financing programme. It is fully in line with the CAN0P-2030 (Carbon Net Zero Plan) plan to make the Group's operating portfolio carbon neutral, with increasingly stringent criteria for targeting the funds raised. It is also in line with the responsible bank lending policy launched in 2018This is the first time that the company has been involved in the development of a new product," says Nicolas Dutreuil, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Finance at Gecina.
Gecina, which is not part of the CAC 40, was selected by Euronext to join the CAC 40 ESG created in March and is now part of the CAC 40.This report is based on the 40 companies listed on the Paris Stock Exchange that are expected to have the best practices in terms of environmental, social and governance standards.