Ireland raises €3.5 billion from the sale of a new 20-year green bond
- Ireland raises €3.5 billion from the sale of a new 20-year green bond
- Funds raised at a yield of 3.106%
- Ireland’s second sovereign green bond
5 January 2023 - The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has today raised €3.5 billion through the syndicated sale of a new 20-year Irish Sovereign Green Bond (ISGB) maturing in October 2043. The funds were raised at a yield of 3.106%.
This is Ireland's second sovereign green bond, following the inaugural issue in October 2018.
There was strong demand for today's transaction. The total order book was in excess of €35 billion and included just under 300 individual accounts.
Ireland reached a broad range of international investors. ESG investors made up circa 70% of the final allocations.
The largest geographical distribution was to the Benelux at 20%. Domestic investors took 4%. Germany, Austria, Switzerland combined took 20%. The Nordics took 13% while the UK and Italy took 10% each. France 9%, other Europe 11%, and Rest of World including the US 3%.
The main investor categories were fund managers 43%, followed by banks 31%, insurance and pension funds 18%, official institutions 7%, and hedge funds 2%.
Dave McEvoy, NTMA Director of Funding and Debt Management, said:
“Today’s new Irish Sovereign Green Bond (ISGB) builds on the success of the first ISGB we issued in 2018.
Having raised €3.5 billion in today’s transaction, ISGBs now account for over 7% of Ireland’s total benchmark bonds. These have been effective in diversifying our investor base.
Today's transaction, which also provides a new 20-year benchmark bond, shows we continue to see strong investor demand for Irish sovereign debt.
With relatively low levels of maturing debt this year, an anticipated Exchequer surplus, and strong cash balances supported by our pre-funding strategy, we have flexibility in managing our issuance over the remainder of 2023.”
The original version of this press release was subsequently updated to include the press release issued by the joint lead managers for the transaction termsheet.