By Lee C. Chipongian

Singapore-based Sindicatum Renewable Energy Co. Pte. Ltd. has issued P1.06-billion 10-year green bonds to fund its clean energy projects in the Philippines.

ING Bank which arranged the issuance as sole lead manager, bookrunner and green structuring advisor, said in a statement that this was the second green bond issuance that it has arranged and managed for Sindicatum Renewable. The first was in January this year and it was denominated in Indian Rupee amounting to INR 2.5 billion. The two green bonds arranged for Sindicatum Renewable had a total value of about $60 million.

Sindicatum Renewable is a regional clean energy project developer. ING said the landmark deal – described as a synthetic local currency issue in pesos – will finance the company’s renewable projects in the Philippines.

“Such a structure allows the issuer to have greater US dollar liquidity and to achieve 10-year funding at a more competitive pricing level,” said ING. The bond is credit guaranteed by GuarantCo, an international development finance institution headquartered in London, helping it to achieve issue ratings of “A1” by Moody’s, it said.

Company CEO Assaad W. Razzouk said in the same statement that the transaction “was very well received by the market and attracted high quality, long-term investors, allowing us to extend the maturity profile of our debt. We can now expand further our renewable energy footprint in the Philippines where we intend to rapidly build a portfolio of 250MW of solar and wind assets.”

ING country manager, Hans B. Sicat, said this is only the start of more deals for the Philippines to “achieve energy efficiency in the coming years”.

“We see growing interest by clients in sustainable finance. This deal demonstrates our capabilities to attract long-term sustainability-focused investors in the local market. Being one of the frontrunners in this arena, ING is well-placed to support corporates in the Philippines committed to becoming more sustainable,” he said.

ING stated that the peso-denominated green bond was issued in compliance with both the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles 2017 and the ASEAN Green Bond Standards. The bank said this means the borrower must apply the loan to fund specific green projects, preserving the market integrity of the green bonds to fund sustainable, environmental projects.

Dutch financial giant ING has helped issue green bonds for several regional banks and corporations. Last year it arranged two major green bond issuances: the $500-million green bond debut by DBS as well as EUR1 billion green bond by China Development Bank.