QNB Group Announces Successful Issuance of Inaugural EUR750mn Green Bond

QNB Group announced the successful completion of an inaugural benchmark green bond issuance in euro currency under its Medium Term Note Programme in the international capital markets.

Under this Programme, a five-year, EUR750mn tranche was launched on September 23.

This is the largest ever Euro denominated green bond issuance from a GCC bank.

QNB Group is the leader of sustainability initiatives in the region, and it has embedded the topic of sustainability throughout the organisation to deliver positive impact to the societies we serve.

This landmark transaction reflects QNB’s steadfast commitment towards further development of green and sustainable finance products in Qatar and its core markets as per its Sustainable Finance and Product Framework.

The issuance attracted overwhelming interest from a wide range of global investors leading to the issuance being heavily oversubscribed, with peak orders at 2.5 times the issue size.

The pricing on the bonds tightened significantly with the final pricing at 75 bps over mid swaps compared to the initial pricing of 100-105 basis points over mid swaps. The fixed coupon on the bond is 3.00% annually.

The order book reflected significant interest across various geographies with key interest from European and Asian investors, reflecting QNB Group’s strategy of diversifying its funding sources in terms of geography and currency mix.

Green investors, who include dedicated funds that invest in assets with rigorous sustainability criteria represented 56% of the allocation.

The proceeds of this green bond will be utilised for financing or refinancing portfolio of projects that qualify under the eligible green project categories as set out in the QNB Group’s Sustainable Finance and Product Framework.

The transaction was arranged and offered through a syndicate of Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners that included Barclays, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, QNB Capital and Santander.