Frankfurt am Main, July 6, 2021 - ING acted as Coordinator, Bookrunner and Sustainability Coordinator for Fresenius SE & Co KGaA’s EUR 2 billion multicurrency syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF), making it the first sustainability-linked financial transaction for the global health care company.
The RCF is Fresenius’ relationship-defining loan facility which has a maturity of five years with two one-year extension options and can be drawn in various currencies. The transaction was part of a wider refinancing exercise and marks the next milestone in a fruitful relationship between ING and Fresenius. “We highly appreciate the trust of the Fresenius team in our advisory skills and are proud to accompany the company on their sustainability journey”, says Martin Müllejans, Managing Director Multinational Corporates at ING.
A key component of the new RCF is the link to sustainability. The margin of the credit facility will be adjusted up or down according to a change in Fresenius’ sustainability performance, measured by Sustainalytics. The DAX company joins the ranks of a growing number of companies ING supported as Sustainability Coordinator. The RCF mandate was executed in close and successful collaboration between ING’s Loan Capital Markets team in Frankfurt and the Sustainable Finance team in Amsterdam. "The diligent preparatory work by all the teams involved and keeping a close eye on recent market developments prior to launch of the transaction paved the way for the successful closing", underlines Mert Yilmaz, Director Loan Capital Markets at ING. Robert Spruijt, Head of Sustainable Finance EMEA at ING, adds: “Fresenius is already one of the market leaders in ESG in the healthcare industry. Through this sustainability linked financing structure, they are even raising the bar further, which clearly underpins their strong ESG ambition.”
ING has already been actively promoting the sustainable, climate-friendly transformation of the economy for years, making the most impact through its lending to companies and consumers. The loan book currently comprises EUR 700 billion across many sectors, which ING has begun steering towards meeting the Paris Agreement’s two-degree goal. The way to reach this goal is known as the Terra approach.