Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC), the
state-owned leading power company in Greece, listed on the Athens Exchange
since 2001, has announced that it has closed its offering of €650 million in
aggregate principal amount of 3.875% Sustainability-Linked Senior Notes due
2026. The transaction represents the first high yield bond issuance in Europe
linked to a sustainability performance target and the first direct issuance of
a corporate bond by a Greek company in international markets.
The landmark offering is linked to PPC’s
aim to reduce its CO2 emissions from fuel consumption of thermal power plants
by 40% by December 31, 2022, compared to the baseline as of December 31, 2019.
The pool of Initial Purchasers was led by
HSBC (as Joint Global Coordinator, Joint Physical Bookrunner and
Sustainabiliy-Linked Bond Structuring Advisor), Goldman Sachs (as Joint Global
Coordinator and Joint Physical Bookrunner) and Citigroup (as Joint Global
Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner) and included several international and Greek
banks, namely Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Alpha Bank, Ambrosia Capital, AXIA
Ventures Group, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank. The bond
attracted significant attention from local and international investors,
including EBRD, which supported the issuance through a €50 million
participation.
Latham & Watkins represented the
Initial Purchasers in the transaction with a U.S. capital markets team led by
partner Jeff Lawlis with associates Giorgio Thomson Ignazzi, Michele Vangelisti
and Pierfrancesco S. Benedetti. Advice was also provided on regulatory matters
by London partner Nicola Higgs.