Ant Secures $6.5bn ESG-Linked Loan, Asia's Largest

Last year, Ant Group Co. transformed a syndicated credit facility into a sustainability-linked loan worth $6.5 billion, which is the biggest loan of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a statement released by the company on Monday, Ant Group Co. converted the credit facility to meet its environmental, social, and corporate governance targets, which include reducing carbon emissions and hiring disadvantaged employees.

The fintech firm received support from 20 banks in Europe, the US, and Asia for this transaction. Joint coordinators for the amendment exercise were Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley.

Ant Group Co. announced that the $6.5 billion sustainability-linked loan is the third-largest globally for last year and the largest in the Asia Pacific loan market, as stated by Dealogic.

The loan will aid the company, which is backed by billionaire Jack Ma, in achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. The Hangzhou-based firm intends to enhance server efficiency in its leased data centres by utilising green computing algorithms.

Citigroup acted as the ESG structuring adviser and facility agent for the sustainability-linked loan. Ant's loan features a two-way pricing mechanism with interest margin adjustments that are tied to specific sustainability performance targets.

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Source: Bloomberg