GRPT Green Bond

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 Growthpoint (or “the company”) is South Africa’s largest Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of over ZAR42.4 billion (US$2.6billion). Growthpoint Properties is an existing IFC client. The proposed investment will be IFC’s fifth investment in companies related to Growthpoint. The first investment was a US$40.5 million equity investment in a pan-African commercial property platform in 2016 (#36873) disclosed at https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/SII/36873/africa-real-estate-platform; the second investment was a €50 million investment in a Eurobond issue of Globalworth in 2018 (#41142) disclosed at https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/41142/grei-bond; the third investment was a US$20 million equity investment in a healthcare REIT with a US$60 million convertible C loan to Growthpoint in 2020 (#42256) disclosed at https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/42256/growthpoint-properties-limited; and the fourth investment was an €85 million facility to Globalworth under the COVID RSE facility in 2021. These three companies’ E&S performance are generally satisfactory.  The proposed new IFC investment entails ZAR2.0 billion (US$121.3 million) through subscription into senior unsecured green bonds to be issued by Growthpoint Properties over the next 12 months. IFC will make an initial investment of ZAR1.0 billion (US$60.6 million) in a privately placed green bond (the “Green Bond”) issuance to be issued in December 2022 as the sole investor. This Green Bond will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Its proceeds will finance energy efficiency and renewable energy use (through installation of rooftop solar panels and batteries) across selected Growthpoint buildings, and refinance debt used to construct recently completed green buildings.