Amazon Looks to Raise $1 Billion via Its First Sustainability Bond -- Update
May 10 2021 - 11:51PM
Dow Jones News
By Dieter Holger
Amazon.com Inc. has issued its first sustainability bond, aiming
to raise $1 billion to support environmental and social projects as
investors clamor for more sustainability bonds to "green up" their
portfolios.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said Monday that the bond
proceeds will fund renewable energy, affordable housing, cutting
resources used by buildings and helping underrepresented groups
enter the technology workforce through training. Investors
oversubscribed to the sustainability bond, which matures in two
years and yields 0.257%, an Amazon spokesperson said.
Amazon aims for net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions across its
direct and indirect activities by 2040 and has rallied other big
companies to target the same year.
The bond doesn't have special terms but Amazon will use the net
proceeds as soon as possible for green or social projects, though a
breakdown of funding for each project is not yet available, a
spokesperson said. Down the road, companies often provide an update
on how funds from green or sustainable bonds were used.
Amazon ranks second among 18 publicly-traded e-commerce
companies for its management of environmental, social and
governance matters, including disclosures and programs, according
to The Wall Street Journal's ESG scores. EBay Inc. currently holds
the top spot in the e-commerce section of the rankings, which
update as more data becomes available.
Unlike green bonds that focus on climate change, sustainability
bonds are tied to both environmental and social efforts and have
gained in popularity in recent years. Investors who want to boost
the sustainability profile of their holdings tend to oversubscribe
to the bonds.
Late last month, home-appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. said it
completed its first $300 million sustainability bond, a 10-year
note with an interest coupon of 2.4%.
Loans that reward or punish companies with higher or lower
borrowing costs if they meet self-made environmental and social
targets continue to attract more corporate borrowers who want to
add teeth to their commitments. Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev
SA signed a $10.1 billion sustainability-linked loan in
February.
The growing number of net-zero pledges from companies are
expected to boost the sustainable-debt market to record levels,
analysts say. The global market hit $2.2 trillion during the first
quarter and could surpass $3 trillion this year, according to the
Institute of International Finance.
In 2020, companies and governments issued a record $732.1
billion in sustainable debt including bonds and loans, a 29%
increase from 2019, according to BloombergNEF, a data provider.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo
& Co., Morgan Stanley, HSBC Holdings PLC, JPMorgan Chase &
Co., Citigroup Inc., Societe Generale SA, Deutsche Bank AG and TD
Securities are acting as bookrunners for Amazon's sustainability
bond, the company's spokesperson said.
Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2021 00:36 ET (04:36 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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