- Largest Euro order book ever achieved
- Priced at a single digit spread over Austrian government bonds
- Strong demand from Austria and Germany, accounting for a 22% allocation
EUR 1 billion for sustainable development
Following two highly successful transactions at the start of the year — a USD Global Bond and a GBP Benchmark Bond — OeKB has returned to the market on April 22 with a new EUR denominated Sustainability Bond with a volume of EUR 1 billion and a maturity of five years. The announcement of the transaction was met with strong interest from international institutional investors.
After communicating the initial price guidance at mid swaps +13 basis points, the order book grew rapidly, with demand surpassing EUR 3 billion. As a result, the spread was tightened by two basis points and set at mid swaps +11, which further accelerated investor demand. The order book was closed at 11:00 CET, reaching a final volume of over EUR 4.8 billion, making it the largest order book ever achieved by OeKB in the EUR market. The final pricing represents a spread of 9 basis points over Austrian government bonds.
The proceeds are directed toward sustainable development, with 71% allocated to green projects and 29% to social initiatives. Core priorities encompass decarbonising European steel production, expanding hydropower capacity in Austria, and financing hospital construction in developing countries. The financed projects contribute to an annual reduction of 19.4 million tonnes of CO₂ and support the expansion of renewable energy capacity by more than 260 MW. Beyond environmental benefits, they improve access to healthcare for over 900,000 patients across Asia and enhance the quality of education for more than 34,000 students in developing countries.
Facts and Figures
- With a share of 46%, the bond attracted particularly strong demand from institutional investors in Asia. Additionally, investor participation from Austria and Germany was very encouraging, accounting for 22% of total allocations.
- The transaction was led by Deutsche Bank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, HSBC Continental Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, and UniCredit Bank AG as joint lead managers.
- The bond carries a coupon of 2.875% and was issued at a reoffer price of 99.894%.
- The issue benefits from the unconditional and explicit guarantee of the Republic of Austria and is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA+ by Standard & Poor’s.
