- The 6-year facility agreement is linked to the achievement of Enel’s sustainable objective related to the percentage of the consolidated renewable installed capacity on total consolidated installed capacity, in line with the commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Rome, October 16th, 2020 - Enel S.p.A. (“Enel”)[1] signed today a 1 billion euro “Sustainability-Linked Loan” facility agreement with a 6-year term that has been structured as a club deal maturing on October 15th, 2026.
This loan is intended to meet the Group’s ordinary financing needs and follows the adoption by Enel of a “Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework” (the “Framework”), a world’s first framework, reviewed by the Second-Party Provider Vigeo Eiris, that presents the whole Sustainability-Linked financing strategy across multiple funding solutions (commercial papers, loans and bonds), fully integrating sustainability into the Group’s global funding program. The Framework is aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) “Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles” and Loan Market Association’s (LMA) “Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles”. Additional information on the Framework and related Second Party Opinion issued by Vigeo Eiris are available to the public on the Enel website, at https://www.enel.com/investors/investing/sustainable-finance/sustainability-linked-finance.
In line with the Framework, the loan is linked to the Key Performance Indicator (“KPI”) of Renewable Installed Capacity Percentage (i.e., the percentage of consolidated renewable installed capacity on total consolidated installed capacity) and to the related achievement of a Sustainability Performance Target (“SPT”) equal to or greater than 60% by December 31st, 2022 (as of June 30th, 2020, the figure was equal to 51.9%). Based on the achievement of the SPT by the Target Date, the credit line provides for a step-up/step-down mechanism that will impact the interest spread applied to drawings on the line, thus reflecting the value of sustainability.
The loan reflects the commitment of Enel, leading private electricity company in the world by renewable installed capacity, to contribute to the achievement of SDG 7.2, i.e. “Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030”.
The signing of this loan is in line with Enel’s financial strategy, which is increasingly characterized by sustainable finance as reflected by the objective to achieve a share of sustainable finance sources on total gross debt equal to 43% in 2022 and 77% in 2030.
The transaction was supported by a syndicate of six banks, acting as Lenders and Bookrunners & Mandate Lead Arrangers.
[1] Enel’s ratings: BBB+ (stable) for Standard & Poor’s, Baa2 (positive) for Moody’s and A- (stable) for Fitch.