Finland-based Municipality Finance (MuniFin) has issued a €1bn green bond in a more than twice oversubscribed transaction.
The books were closed at €2.2bn, based on the bond paying an annual coupon of 3% with a maturity date of 25 September 2028. It is said to be the largest green bond ever issued in the Nordics.
According to MuniFin, around 80% of the order book was allocated to ESG investors. Banks took the largest allocation (46%) followed by asset managers (31%). Geographically, the Nordics took 37% of the allocation followed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland at 29% and Benelux at 13%.
MuniFin issued its first green bond in 2016. This latest green bond is the first since the August 2022 publication of an updated green bond framework, which looked to develop more detailed and transparent eligibility criteria with a leaner evaluation and selection process for green projects.
Although rating the updated framework as “excellent”, second-party opinion provider Cicero also noted that MuniFin does not yet report according to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures nor use climate scenario analysis.
MuniFin has set a target of €8bn-€9bn in green bond issuance by the end of 2023.
