Wallenius Wilhelmsen inks sustainability-linked loans worth $800m
Oslo-listed car carrier operator Wallenius Wilhelmsen has secured $800m worth of vessel-secured bank financing linked to the company’s emission reductions.
The facilities consist of two new financing deals signed with 11 banks at the end of June, of which $670m was drawn down, mainly to repay $569m of existing vessel debt, while the remaining $130m is available as a revolving credit line and can be used for general corporate purposes.
The financings are issued under Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s sustainability-linked financing framework. Interest margins will be adjusted on an annual basis, and if the company achieves the interim CO2-intensity target, the margin will be reduced by 0.05 percentage points for the next year.
“We are working to cut emissions systematically through a wide range of operational, technical and asset replacement initiatives. Some of these produce an effect on the shorter term, while the benefit of others will be realised over the 30-year lifetime of vessels,” said Torbjørn Wist, CFO at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, adding that the new financings allow the company to extend debt maturities, stretch repayment profiles and build financing capacity for future investment needs.
The agreements are secured by 20 vessels with an average age of 12 years and a market value of $1.4bn. As part of the transaction, five older vessels became debt free, increasing the company’s unencumbered fleet to 12 vessels. The company’s CO2 equivalent intensity was reduced by 33.6% from 2008 to 2019 and is expected to reduce a further 27.5% from 2019 to 2030.
