Hannon Armstrong Completes $84 million Sustainable Yield Bond™ Offering with BlackRock Accounts, Moody’s Green Bond Assessment and CarbonCount
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (“Hannon Armstrong”) (NYSE: HASI) and accounts managed by BlackRock today announced the completion of an $84 million offering of Sustainable Yield Bonds (“SYBs”) by Hannon Armstrong in which BlackRock arranged institutional financing. The SYBs were issued by an indirect subsidiary of Hannon Armstrong and financed efficiency and solar assets in over 90 public schools and over 20 local government properties across four different states. The non-recourse bonds, issued at par, have a 4.35% fixed rate coupon and a 20-year life and have a CarbonCount score of 0.27 metric tons of greenhouse gas per $1,000.
“By issuing SYBs we are able to increase our leverage and the amount of fixed-rate debt, moving us towards our targets of 2.5:1 leverage and 60%-85% fixed-rate debt,” said Jeffrey Eckel, President & CEO of Hannon Armstrong. “With a 0.27 CarbonCount rating, investors have a quantitative measure of impact. In addition, achieving Moody’s highest green bond assessment provides additional investor comfort that while they are making sound financial investments, the investments also have a positive environmental profile.”
“As part of BlackRock’s commitment to sustainability, we are pleased to partner with Hannon Armstrong on a project with such tangible impact,” said Jeetu Balchandani, Head of the North American Infrastructure Debt team at BlackRock. “We are confident that this high-quality transaction will deliver value for our clients.”
Moody’s Investors Service assigned the notes a Green Bond Assessment (“GBA”) of GB1- its highest GBA grade. “The transaction achieves the highest weighted score corresponding to a GB1 Grade due, in part, to the fact that all of the proceeds from the green bond offering will be allocated to eligible environmentally beneficial projects based on Hannon Armstrong’s criteria for selection,” said Tiphany Lee-Allen, Assistant Vice President – Analyst, Public Finance Group at Moody’s. “Considered by an experienced team benefiting from a long management tenure with a focus on achieving GHG reductions and other environmental benefits, only projects that are net neutral or positive in nature are considered.”
“The CarbonCount score reflects the energy and environmental benefits of the assets, which are expected to annually offset over 24,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and save over 34 million gallons of water,” said Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, which developed and owns the CarbonCount scoring tool.
In addition to reducing carbon emissions and saving water, the efficiency upgrades will improve the indoor air quality and learning environments for over 18,000 school children.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, and there shall not be any offer or sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Source:prnewswire
