Knorr-Bremse looks to sustainability in financing: First syndicated loan of EUR 750 million finalized

Knorr-Bremse AG is breaking new ground, even when it comes to financing. The global market leader for braking systems and a leading supplier of other safety-critical rail and commercial vehicle systems has just concluded its first-ever syndicated loan. Additionally, a sustainability component was included in the structure of the credit facility.

Frank Markus Weber, Chief Financial Officer of Knorr-Bremse AG: “With this syndicated loan, we are expanding the tools at our disposal for long-term financing and modifying our previous strategy, which was characterized by short-term bilateral credit lines combined with long-term capital market instruments. We have thus secured ourselves credit over the long term in an attractive market environment and, with this ESG-linked loan as a green financing element, have taken up a sustainable instrument into our financing structure.”

The syndicated loan of EUR 750 million has a term of five years and can be extended by one year up to two times. Knorr-Bremse has tied the new financing to an ESG rating by ISS Corporate Solutions, which currently has Knorr-Bremse AG at a solid rating of C+. Within the framework of a bonus-malus system, changes to this rating have a corresponding positive or negative impact on the loan spread.

The transaction was coordinated by Deutsche Bank and UniCredit.

 

Source: Knorr-Bremse