Turkey's state lender VakıfBank issues 1st sustainable eurobond of $750 million

Turkey’s state lender VakıfBank completed the first "sustainable" eurobond transaction issued via deposit banks, a statement by the lender said Wednesday.

According to the statement, the return of the issuance of $750 million (TL 5.87 billion) with a five-year maturity was 6.625% while the stated interest was 6.5%. The issuance attracted interest from many investors across several continents.

VakıfBank General Manager Abdi Serdar Üstünsalih, whose views were included in the official statement, said that they “have successfully completed the first 'sustainable eurobond' issuance by deposit banks of our country.”

He said that following the investor meetings the bank held regarding the transaction, they saw demand from nearly 200 institutional investors worth more than three times the transaction size.

“We have gathered strong demand from every region of the world, from the Middle East to Asia and the U.K. to the U.S.,” he said. “On this occasion, we have reached investors who invest only in sustainable eurobonds by providing new resources to our country, especially from the environmental-social approach-oriented funds based in continental Europe.”

Referring to the transaction of $750 million that was issued in January – the biggest eurobond issued in the history of the bank, Üstünsalih said that with this new issuance, the bank has completed the second-most successful transaction of 2020, a period during which the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the financial and business world.

He said that the lender has strengthened its position as a pioneer in international capital markets.

“The success of this transaction has once again demonstrated the bank’s pioneering position along with international investors' trust in our country and our bank and the strong perception of the VakıfBank brand,” he stressed.

Üstünsalih said the bank carries out all activities within the framework of sustainable banking and noted that environmentally friendly and social-themed loans will be financed with the obtained resources. The most important of the social loans is the financing of micro-enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and loans to increase employment.

“Within the scope of our sustainable banking efforts, we became the 'first carbon-negative bank' of our country by balancing more than all greenhouse gas emissions calculated for 2019. Again, as a part of our understanding of sustainable banking and as a requirement of the concept of 'sustainable eurobond,' the resources to be obtained from this new issue will be used in the financing of environmentally friendly projects,” he said.

“As a pioneering and active bank in international markets, we have taken important steps in this area as well, and we will continue our efforts to access sustainable finance in the next period and continue to provide new resources to our country from abroad.”