Eesti Energia raises EUR 400m in green hybrid bond offering

Estonian government-owned energy company Eesti Energia said it has raised EUR 400 million (USD 432.6m) in the issuance of green hybrid bonds to invest the funds in ongoing and new green projects.

The issuance was oversubscribed four-fold, attracting nearly 200 investors from around the world, allowing the company to secure a better interest rate.

"The exceptionally high demand allowed us to offer bonds at a lower interest rate than we originally planned," said Marlen Tamm, CFO of Eesti Energia Group. "We were able to tighten pricing by more than 50bps from during the bookbuild process -- we closed the offer at a coupon rate of 7.875%, which is comparable to other similar bond offers both internationally and in Estonia.”

The hybrid instrument will benefit from 50% equity content assigned by Moody's and S&P and will also be treated as equity under IFRS accounting standards, Eesti Energia said.

The bond will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The proceeds will be used to finance eligible green projects, which according to the company’s Green Finance Framework, encompass renewable energy, investments in the transmission network and installation of charging stations for electric vehicles connected to the Estonian grid.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.081)

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