Shanghai-based property developer Shui On Land’s inaugural US$400 million sustainability-linked bond (SLB) offering attracted a solid institutional bid despite the unrated nature of the deal, underscoring the growing institutional interest for sustainable finance transactions in which the deal structure aligns with the borrower’s sustainability strategy and vision.

The SLB deal structure featured a key performance indicator that was relevant and material to Shui On Land’s business and operations.

The sustainability performance target of 25% reduction by 2024 against a 2019 baseline is also ambitious and aligns with the company’s commitment to setting targets in line with meeting the goals of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to well-below 2 degrees Celsius and use best endeavours to set targets that limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Shui On Land’s SLB marks an important milestone in the company’s sustainable finance journey following its inaugural green bond offering in November 2019.