Record demand for Accolade’s green bonds: CZK 3 billion issue sold out in two weeks

“The immense interest in Accolade bonds shows that investors, whose trust we greatly value, are well aware of the need to transform the Czech economy towards greater sustainability, efficiency and robotization and are willing to support it with high-quality instruments. It shows that the path of investing in green buildings with great tenants, which we set out on more than 10 years ago, is the right and feasible one,” said Milan Kratina, Accolade’s CEO.

Accolade Group is behind projects that are among the most environmentally friendly in the world. Its building at Cheb South Industrial Park, for example, received a BREEAM New Construction 2016 rating of Outstanding with a record score of 94.2%. The Group also has a strong focus on brownfield redevelopment in its project planning, which now accounts for over 33% of its portfolio.

The Group’s recently developed internal set of measures issued under the title “Green Finance Framework” has been key in preparing the green issue. In line with the EU Taxonomy, this framework sets out the rules that Accolade commits to following when preparing projects. The credibility of the document has been proved by an independent assessment by Sustainalytics, one of the most respected auditing companies in the field of sustainability.

Record issue of green bonds

The bonds with a five-year maturity are issued by Accolade Finco Czech 1, s.r.o., an entity established for the purpose of issuing bonds and subsequently providing financing to other companies in the Group. The company is 100% owned by the parent company Accolade Holding a.s., which also provided a financial guarantee for the repayment of the bonds.

Among other things, the issuer undertakes in the terms of issue to use the funds to finance or refinance the Group’s projects that fall into the “Green Buildings” category. These are industrial real estate developments that meet the highest standards of environmental sustainability.

“We greatly appreciate the confidence shown by the participating consortium of banks whose experience and reputation were crucial to the ultimate success of this issue of our green bonds. I would also like to thank the internal team and other stakeholders for the excellent work done on the entire project,” concluded Tomáš Procházka, Accolade’s CFO.

Parameters of the Accolade bond issue: