Acorn Project (Two) Limited Liability Partnership, the Issuer of the Acorn Medium-Term Green Note (MTN) Programme, closed the final tranche on Friday 16th July 2021. The Issuer said they raised Kes 2.096 billion against the target of Kes 1.438 billion representing a subscription rate of 146%.
Acorn issued a Kes 5 billion MTN programme in October 2019, the first Green Bond in Kenya. In the process, the first tranche of the issue raised Kes 4.262 billion against a minimum target of Kes 2 billion.
“We see the oversubscription of our Green Bond as a huge vote of confidence for Acorn and the wider Capital Markets especially given the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the pandemic, the Acorn Green Bond has continued and will continue to pay coupons promptly due to the appropriate project bond structure that was adopted at the outset.” Acorn Holdings Limited Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Edward Kirathe.
In May 2021, Acorn sought and was granted approval by the Capital Markets Authority to upsize the MTN programme from Kes 5 billion to Kes 5.7 billion. Therefore, the final tranche was aimed at raising the Kes 0.738 billion remaining from the initial programme and the additional Kes 0.7 billion from the upsized programme.
According to the company, the subscription book was well diversified in its funding base with significant interest from Kenyan domestic pension funds, commercial banks, and re-insurance companies.
Acorn said the additional financing would go towards developing an additional 2 PBSA properties providing 2,654 beds bringing the total numbers of developments funded under the MTN programme to 8 projects providing 7,349 beds.
The Acorn Green Bond is rated B1 Global by Moody’s Investor Service and is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange. Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited is the Lead Transaction Advisor, and SBG Securities Limited is the Lead Placement Agent for the programme.
“As a Kenyan Bank, we are honored to be part of such a historic deal. Not only does this demonstrate our overall commitment to contributing to the economic growth of the country, but it also paves way for domestic financing institutions to be part of green financing and have a social impact in the Kenyan market.”Chief Executive Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited, Charles Mudiwa.
