3rd Aug 2022 07:00
SAINT-GOBAIN STRENGTHENS ITS FINANCING
AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT
Saint-Gobain successfully priced today a triple tranche EUR 1.5 billion bond issue consisting of:
· EUR 500 million with a 3 year maturity and a 1.625% coupon
· EUR 500 million with a 6 year[1] maturity and a 2.125% coupon
· EUR 500 million with a 10 year maturity and a 2.625% coupon
The 10 year tranche is a Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB) indexed to sustainable performance indicators.
With this transaction Saint-Gobain seized a window of market opportunity to extend the average maturity of its debt with mid to long term funding. This success underlines the relevance of Saint-Gobain's strategic positioning as worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, the strong execution of its "Grow & Impact" strategy and its excellent financial performance.
Over 200 investors showed their confidence in the Group's credit quality. Saint-Gobain benefited from the recent decrease in rates and the 5 times oversubscription of the targeted amount to reach an attractive funding cost, without any new issue premium.
Saint-Gobain's long-term senior debt is rated BBB (positive outlook) by Standard & Poor's and Baa1 (stable outlook) by Moody's.
Sreedhar N., Chief Financial Officer of Saint-Gobain, commented:
"Sustainable growth is at the heart of Saint-Gobain's business model. The issuance of a Sustainability-Linked Bond demonstrates the strength of Saint-Gobain's commitments set out in its ESG[2] roadmap. The Group aims in particular to tackle the big energy and environmental challenges faced by the world, with its contribution to reduce CO2 emissions in its operations and also decarbonize construction and industrial activities through its sustainable solutions".
The SLB is linked to two important indicators of Saint-Gobain's sustainability roadmap, with ambitious targets in relation to the base year 2017:
- Reduce by 33% the absolute Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 2030;
- Achieve an 80% reduction of non-recovered production waste by 2030.
A 0.375% step-up would apply on the 2032 coupon for each one of these indicators if their respective target was not met.
Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and Société Générale (sole structuring advisor on the SLB tranche) acted as global coordinators of the whole transaction. BBVA, Barclays, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ING, Mizuho, SMBC, Standard Chartered Bank AG and Unicredit, as well as the coordinators, acted as bookrunners on the different tranches.
ABOUT SAINT-GOBAIN
Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufacturesand distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonizationof construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group's commitment is guided by its purpose, "MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME".
€44.2 billion in sales in 2021
166,000 employees, locations in 76 countries
Committed to achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050
For more information about Saint-Gobain,visit www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain
[1] Maturity : June 10, 2028
[2] ESG: Environment, Social, Governance