Containership owner and operator Seaspan, a subsidiary of asset manager Atlas, announced today the closing of its Blue Transition Bond offering, issuing $750 million senior unsecured notes, significantly ahead of the initial $500 million offering size.
The notes were issued under Seaspan’s recently released Blue Transition Bond Framework. The framework aims to align with the guidelines presented by the ICMA’s Green Bond Principles (GBP), and the company’s efforts to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to building clean and environmentally sound technologies (SDG #9) and life below water (SDG #14).
Eligible use of proceeds outlined by the framework includes containership newbuilds targeting decarbonization by utilizing an alternative or low-carbon emission fuel source, as well as R&D, retrofitting, and vessel modifications to lower vessel emissions through efficiency improvements, use of low carbon fuels, or propulsion technology.
Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan, said:
“This transaction, highlighted by the 50% upsizing of the offering, demonstrates the growing confidence of institutional investors and rating agencies. Our achievements and prospects further accelerate us as the industry leader with solid financial strength, disciplined capital allocation, consistent operational excellence, creative customer partnerships and quality growth. I am proud of our team’s hard work and focus on delivering sustainable value creation for customers and investors.”
The company stated that the issuance of Blue Transition Bonds expands its sustainability-linked capital structure, adds liquidity to support growth opportunities, supports the path towards the decarbonization of its industry, and furthers its efforts to improve the environmentalEnvironmental criteria consider how a company performs as a steward of nature. More performance of its fleet.
Graham Talbot, CFO of Seaspan, added:
“Closing of this offering marks another major milestone in the evolution of Seaspan’s capital structure and reflects Seaspan’s growing access to the global capital markets. In the last twelve months, we have issued inaugural unsecured credit offerings in three different markets, making significant progress on our communicated path to investment grade. Our financial strength has allowed Seaspan to take advantage of significant recent growth opportunities and deliver dependable and consistent returns to our credit and equity investors, while maintaining a prudent balance sheet.”
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