NAVER Issues Korea’s Largest Sustainability Bonds, Strengthening Firm’s ESG Commitments
NAVER Issues Korea’s Largest Sustainability Bonds, Strengthening Firm’s ESG Commitments
NAVER Issues Korea’s Largest Sustainability Bonds, Strengthening Firm’s ESG Commitments
- NAVER successfully completed the reopening of foreign bonds—the first for a Korean tech company—following its issuance of USD 500 million in sustainability bonds in March
- NAVER issued a total of USD 800 million, recording the largest amount of sustainability bonds issued in Korea
2021-05-06
NAVER announced that it successfully issued an additional USD 300 million in sustainability bonds on May 5, following strong investor demand for its initial issuance of USD 500 million in bonds in March. NAVER’s reopening of foreign bonds is the first for a private company in South Korea.
The additional USD 300 million in bonds will fund ongoing and new projects that are environmentally or socially responsible. The company’s sustainability bonds, which now total USD 800 million including this reopening, is the largest sustainability bond issuance by any company in Korean history.
NAVER was able to issue the additional USD 300 million, which far exceeded its target amount of USD 200 million, based on genuine demand from foreign investors. The company allocated, by region, 88% of the bonds to Asia and 12% to Europe. It apportioned 66% to asset management companies, 33% to banks and private banks, and 1% to insurance companies and other investors.
NAVER began the book-building process on May 5, when it announced Initial Price Guidance (IPG) of 110 basis points (bps), over the five-year U.S. bond interest rate. At around 7 p.m. the same day, the Final Price Guidance was announced, with an adjusted bps of 85 to reflect investor demands which peaked at USD 1 billion at the time. The reopening of issued bonds typically matches investor demands, unlike the issuance of new bonds which usually attract three to four times more investments than the projected demand. NAVER's reopening was met with an overwhelming response from investors, with a market demand three times more than expected.
Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed NAVER’s A3 and A – credit rating respectively and both evaluated that NAVER will maintain a low leverage ratio even with the issuance of the increased bonds.
“The success of the reopening affirmed the investors’ trust in NAVER’s ESG management,” said Sang-Jin Park, Chief Financial Officer of NAVER Corporation. “We will further accelerate our environmental and social investments moving forward.”
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