Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) (H&M) on the issuance by H&M Finance BV as issuer of €500 million 0.25% Sustainability-Linked Notes due 2029, guaranteed by H&M.
"We have supported H&M on their issuance of cutting edge sustainability-linked bonds, which form an integral part of their highly ambitious drive to be a leader in the retail fashion market on sustainability issues," said White & Case counsel Michael Bark-Jones, who led the Firm's deal team. "The success of this transaction demonstrates the ability of White & Case to guide issuers through the complexities of sustainability-linked financing, which is fast becoming a key part of the funding tool kit available to companies, offering a viable alternative to more traditional "use of proceeds" green bonds."
BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Danske Bank, SEB and Standard Chartered acted as joint lead managers. The transaction was the debut issuance by the H&M Group under its €2 billion Euro Medium Term Note Programme, established in July 2020.
The transaction shows White & Case's increasing presence in the Nordic investment grade debt capital markets, as well as the Firm's market-leading sustainable finance practice, advising on complicated sustainability-linked mechanisms. This issue involved a step up feature relating to three separate KPIs, including an ambitious 30 percent increase in the use of recycled materials and the monitoring of as yet untested Scope 3 GHG emissions. The transaction was close to eight times oversubscribed.
The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by counsel Michael Bark-Jones (Stockholm) and included partners Carl Hugo Parment (Stockholm) and Mikko Hulkko (Helsinki) and associate Josephine Martinsson (Stockholm).
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