Lloyds Bank has completed its first green loan for the UK pub sector with Ei Group, the largest leased and tenanted pub company in the country.
The £50m green loan is syndicated between Lloyds Bank and BNP Paribas and is part of the Lloyds Bank Green Lending Initiative where borrowers are required to fulfil certain green covenants.
The initiative is a £1bn commitment, launched in 2016, to incentivise and support corporate clients’ efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from their property assets.
Ei Group is currently working with specialist energy consultants to identify energy saving upgrades in its managed as well as leased and tenanted estate to reduce consumption and monitor and identify savings made in kWhs and energy spend.
Through the Green Lending Initiative, Ei Group will receive an improvement in the interest rate of its Green Loan, in exchange for driving sustainability initiatives within its pub estate and meeting pre-agreed key performance indicators.
The targets are focused on commitments to ensure sustainability is considered on all investment into the estate, primarily relating to reducing the carbon footprint of managed pubs on conversion and also to encourage publicans to consider sustainability and energy saving measures as part of any investment projects in the leased and tenanted estate.
John Feeney, managing director and head of global corporates at Lloyds Bank, said: “So far, we have supported nine clients through the initiative and arranged a total of £867m of debt, but this latest transaction sees us broadening its appeal to a wider array of customers. We want to continue to take the lead in innovating products in order to help spur growth.”
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