Norway’s Storebrand is sole buyer of EIB’s latest Climate Awareness Bond

Norwegian life insurer and asset manager Storebrand has emerged as the sole buyer of a new seven-year SEK750m (€87.5m) Climate Awareness Bond (CAB) issued by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending arm of the European Union.

It follows on the heels of a CAB issued by the bank earlier this month that was 60% bought by socially responsible investors.

EIB’s latest CAB pays Storebrand a quarterly coupon, or interest rate, equivalent to the three-month STIBOR plus 0.43%. The STIBOR is the rate at which Scandinavia’s biggest banks are willing to lend to each other; the latest fixing for the three-month rate was 1.19%. The bond’s sole book runner was Swedish bank Handelsbanken.

In a statement, the EIB said proceeds from the sale would be used to finance renewable technology and energy efficiency projects.In 2012 alone, the EIB’s lending to those sectors totalled more than €13bn which it said was the most of any multilateral financial institution.

“The EIB greatly welcomes the supportive attitude from this investor”

Last November, the EIB issued a 10-year CAB worth SEK750m. Half of the demand came from Scandinavian investors like Storebrand and the other half from investors in Europe and Asia. Since 2007, the Luxembourg-bank’s CABs have raised €2.4bn.

Commented Eila Kreivi, head of EIB’s capital markets department: “The EIB’s largest CAB transaction in Swedish krona follows our largest in euros earlier this month. The investor in the SEK issue is a repeat buyer of CABs, and the EIB greatly welcomes the supportive attitude from this investor.”