Tideway opens the London Stock Exchange
Tideway was invited to partake in the prestigious Market Open Ceremony at London’s Stock Exchange to mark it being the largest corporate issuer of Green Bonds in sterling after it priced a CPI-linked Green Bond with asset manager M&G Investments.
The £200 million private placement builds on the success of Tideway’s first UK public green bond with both transactions, combined, totalling £450 million and will form part of the financing for the construction of the tunnel.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel, often referred to as London’s super sewer, is a major infrastructure project which will tackle sewage pollution in the River Thames. Tunnelling of the 25 km tunnel is due to start later this year and when complete will prevent tens of millions of tonnes of untreated sewage polluting the river each year.
As part of its commitment to utilise the river, Tideway has pledged to transport over 90 per cent of materials by barge which will reduce the number of road vehicle journeys needed to build the tunnel. Use of the river will also boost the number of jobs on the river, with the project delivering around 4,000 jobs in total and one in every 50 will be an apprentice.
Mark Corben, Tideway’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “We have always seen ourselves as an innovator in the environmental finance world and we are pleased to contribute to the development of the green financing market in the UK and confirm our green credentials.
“The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a vital piece of infrastructure that is needed to protect one of London’s greatest natural assets for future generations. It will modernise the capital’s ageing sewage system, originally built by the Victorians, and provide additional capacity for London to continue to prosper and grow.”
Last year Tideway published its Green Bond Framework, which sets out how Tideway will use the proceeds of Green Bonds for the construction of the tunnel as well as the governance for and reporting of the use of proceeds going forward. Tideway’s Green Bond Framework is aligned with the four core components of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles.
For more information on the Thames Tideway Tunnel please visit www.tideway.london.