Burberry Announces Pricing for Inaugural Sustainability Bond

Mark Segal September 15, 2020

Luxury fashion company Burberry announced that it has priced its inaugural sustainability bond, setting final terms for a £300 million 1.125% bond due 21 September 2025.

Burberry launched the bond offering on September 9, and previously announced that it expects it to be rated Baa2 (stable outlook) by Moody’s Investors Services. The bond will be issued pursuant to Burberry’s Sustainability Bond Framework, which has received a second party opinion from Sustainalytics.

According to Burberry, this will be the first sustainability labelled bond issued by a luxury fashion company and will diversify the company’s sources of funding, introducing long-term financing into the capital structure. The proceeds will be used to finance and/or refinance eligible sustainable projects as described by Burberry’s Sustainability Bond Framework.

Julie Brown, Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer said:

“We are delighted to announce the final terms of our inaugural Sustainability Bond. Burberry has a longstanding commitment to sustainability and we are dedicated to using our position and influence to drive social and environmental improvements. The addition of medium-dated financing to the capital structure will support liquidity and allow us to secure proceeds for investment in our sustainability agenda over the life of the bond”.

Mark founded ESG Today following a 20 year career in investment management and research. Prior to founding ESG Today, Mark worked at Delaney Capital Management (DCM) in Toronto, Canada, most recently as the firm’s head of U.S. equities. While at DCM, Mark was part of the firm’s ESG team, responsible for evaluating and tracking the sustainability factors impacting portfolio companies, and assessing the suitability of companies for portfolio inclusion. Mark also spent several years in the sell-side research industry, covering the technology and services sectors. Mark holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York, a BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, and is a CFA charterholder.