Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited (GULF) successfully raised THB 8,000 million of green bonds for its wind power project
together with THB 12,000 million of non-green bonds. The total issue size of the bonds placed to institutional and high net worth investors across all
tranches was THB 20,000 million with proceeds going towards business expansion, existing debt repayment, and working capital.
Ms. Yupapin Wangviwat, Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer, Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited (GULF), stated,
“This was the first time that GULF issued green bonds with the objective of investing in renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
and the proceeds from this transaction will be used to refinance our investment in Borkum Riffgrund 2 project, which is an offshore wind power
plant in Germany. The green bonds, which were issued under GULF’s Green Financing Framework and had Second Party Opinion from
DNV Business Assurance Australia Ltd., received so much interest from investors that GULF had to increase the issue size to THB 8,000 million
from the THB 5,000 million initially planned. On top of the overwhelming demand for the green bonds, the overall offerings of THB 20,000 million
also exceeded our expectation. The total demand more than doubled our target issue size and came from all groups of investors (including,
but not limited to, asset managers, insurance companies, cooperatives, banks, and high net worth investors).
GULF would like to thank all investors for their interests and investments, which clearly showed their confidence in GULF’s strong
operational performance and continued solid growth of the businesses under the Group.”
GULF’s bond transaction consisted of 2 tranches of green bonds totaling THB 8,000 million, namely, THB 4,500 million
debentures with a 5-year tenor and THB 3,500 million debentures with a 7-year tenor with coupon rates of 3.20% and 3.59% per annum,
respectively. There were also 3 tranches of non-green bonds totaling THB 12,000 million: 3-year THB 4,100 million, 4-year THB 4,400 million,
and 10-year THB 3,500 million with coupon 2.85%, 3.00%, and 3.92% per annum, respectively. The average coupon across all tranches equals to 3.28%
and average tenor of 5.6 years. GULF’s credit rating is “A+” with stable outlook, while the bonds are rated “A” by TRIS Rating Company Limited.
Arrangers for the transactions are Bangkok Bank PCL, Krungthai Bank PCL, Bank of Ayudhya PCL,
KASIKORNBANK PCL, TMBThanachart Bank PCL, Siam Commercial Bank PCL, and Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) PCL.
