Iberdrola continues to diversify its funding sources. The company, chaired by Ignacio Galan, has issued a 12-year green bond for £500m (€600m). This is Iberdrola’s largest bond issue in sterling since 2009. The company last issued bonds in sterling in 2019, through its Scottish Power Transmission subsidiary. Additionally, this is Iberdrola’s first green bond issued in pounds sterling. Iberdrola will be the only European power company with access to the euro, pound sterling and Swiss franc in 2024.
Demand exceeded £2.1 billion, which enabled the spread to the base rate to narrow to 95 basis points (from the original 125 basis points). This is the largest decline recorded by a regular issuer in this market this year. The coupon was 5.25% after attracting the interest of over 140 investors (the largest number of corporate issuers in the pound market this year), particularly ESG-minded investors, thanks to the green nature of the deal. was set to . will fund future investment in renewable energy projects in the UK.
Barclays, HSBC, Goldman Sachs and NatWest also weighed in on the issue. Iberdrola is the only Spanish company to access the pound market in 2024.
This is Iberdrola’s sixth public transaction on the market so far in 2024. The first was a €700 million hybrid bond issued in January. The second is on the Swiss market, with 335 million francs at the end of June. The third is a €750 million senior bond issued in July. The fourth took place in August, with Iberdrola injecting $525 million through its U.S. subsidiary. The fifth sale took place on September 23rd, with the company’s largest ever senior bond issue of 2.15 billion euros.
The rates achieved are comparable to those obtained on the euro market, with the added benefit of currency diversification.
