France’s EDF SA, a key player in the energy
transition and a global leader in low-carbon energy, has launched a landmark offering of four-year green bonds
convertible into new shares and/or exchangeable for existing shares of EDF.
This is EDF’s first convertible bond and the
first “jumbo” green convertible bond ever issued, confirming the company’s
ambitions in and commitment to renewable energy. As a core component of its Cap 2030 strategy,
in 2015 EDF had set itself the goal of doubling its net installed renewables
capacity to more than 50GW by 2030.
The proceeds of this offering will be
allocated to the financing and/or refinancing of new and/or existing eligible projects,
as defined in EDF’s Green Bond Framework. The company uses green bonds to finance the
construction of new renewables generation capacity, to modernize existing
hydropower generation facilities and to adapt existing hydropower assets to
changing climate patterns.
BNP Paribas acted as sole structuring advisor
and joint bookrunner on the issue, which is also the biggest non-mandatory convertible
bond in the European market since 2003.
The convertible bond market is of increasing
interest to issuers and investors alike, especially as it has resisted the
Covid-19 crisis well. Issuance volumes in Europe have more than doubled since
2019.
EDF has also simultaneously raised €2.1
billion euros through two new tranches of euro-denominated hybrid notes, with
BNP Paribas acting also as sole structuring advisor and joint bookrunner in
these transactions.