Russell McVeagh Assists On Goodman's Green Bonds Issuance

Today marks the first green bond issuance by GMT Bond Issuer Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goodman Property Trust. $150 million of green bonds were issued.

The Russell McVeagh team advising Goodman Property Trust, New Zealand's largest listed property investor, was led by Banking and Finance partner Deemple Budhia, supported by senior associate Ling Yan Pang and solicitor Richelle Go Ocao, who worked closely alongside the team at Goodman.

"We are delighted to be able to assist Goodman on their inaugural green bond issuance and the establishment of their Sustainable Finance Framework," said Budhia.

The green bond offer was the first offer by the Issuer using a simplified product disclosure statement rather than the quoted financial product regime.

The Issuer will on-lend all of the proceeds of the green bonds to Goodman Property Trust. Once on-lent, Goodman Property Trust intends to refinance existing bank debt and allocate an amount equal to the proceeds of the green bonds to eligible assets, which are existing properties, properties under development or property upgrade projects that meet the eligibility criteria outlined in Goodman Property Trust's Sustainable Finance Framework.

Westpac Banking Corporation (ABN 33 007 457 141) (acting through its New Zealand branch) acted as arranger, green bond co-ordinator and joint lead manager, and Craigs Investment Partners Limited, Forsyth Barr Limited and Jarden Securities Limited acted as joint lead managers.

This issuance follows on from Russell McVeagh's market-leading sustainable finance work which has also included recently advising Spark on the issuance of the inaugural Sustainability-Linked Bond in the New Zealand market, as well as other green bond issuances for a range of leading New Zealand organisations including Genesis Energy and Kiwi Property.

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