Europcar Mobility Group Takes a Key Step in the Deployment of Its Carbon Reduction Plan by Launching a Sustainability-linked Financial Bond
28 September 2021 - 05:44PM
Business Wire
Regulatory News:
As a major mobility player, Europcar Mobility Group
(Paris:EUCAR) is convinced that it can make a significant
contribution to the – essential - transition to a low-carbon world:
by offering attractive alternatives to vehicle ownership – and by
offering more and more green mobility solutions to its
customers.
In 2005, the Group was the first player in the vehicle rental
sector to adhere to the United Nations Global Compact in favor of
sustainable development. In 2019, Europcar Mobility Group
reinforced this ambition by joining the « Science-Based Targets
Initiative » *, to take actions in line with the objectives of the
Paris Agreement. The launch of its "One Sustainable Fleet" program,
was a step forward to actively increase the share of green vehicles
within its fleet over the years.
Europcar Mobility Group’s ambition is now embedded in a
comprehensive carbon reduction plan, allowing the Group to have a
systemic approach of carbon reduction, encapsulating and driving
all key processes which have an impact.
Last week, in line with its ambition, the Group issued an
offering of €500m Sustainability-linked senior secured Notes,
relying on “fleet greenification” criteria and aimed at the
refinancing of its fleet. The Group wishes to leverage sustainable
financing schemes to accelerate its carbon transition; a lever that
it considers to be both very relevant and powerful in engaging its
internal and external stakeholders, as well as in transforming its
operating model.
The purpose of the Notes Offering** is to proactively manage the
Company’s fleet-related debt profile along its €1.7bn
securitization program refinanced last July. As part of its Notes
Offering, Europcar Mobility Group has established robust
Sustainable Performance Targets, namely:
- reducing carbon emissions for its car and van fleet to reach an
average of 93 g CO2/km for passenger cars and of 144 g CO2/km for
vans respectively, by the end of 2024,
- targeting to have green vehicles (less than 50 g CO2/km)
accounting for 20% of its car and van fleet by the end of
2024.
In this context, the Second Party Opinion requested from VE
(Vigeo Eiris, part of Moody’s) on the Sustainability-Linked
Financing framework established by the Group has been evaluated
“Advanced” ***, both in terms of KPIs’ relevance and Sustainable
Performance Targets’ ambition.
This bond issuance - the first of its kind for Europcar Mobility
Group and also a first in the car rental industry - was a great
success, with more than 4x subscription rate, at a very competitive
pricing.
"We believe that the mobility services we offer our customers –
from car rental to car sharing to on-demand vehicles and
subscription – are alternatives to vehicle ownership and thus, are
part of the solutions to transition towards a low-carbon world. We
are also determined to reduce our carbon footprint year after year:
specifically tackling our indirect emissions, which represent 98 %
of our carbon footprint and are largely dominated by the use of our
fleet by our customers.
The bond issuance we have just completed reflects a choice that
involves our entire organization: the choice to act directly on the
"CO2" profile of our fleet, where we can have a significant impact.
Our Finance teams have perfectly integrated this commitment by
translating it into the fleet financing strategy, and as such, we
are particularly proud of the success met.
We are going to continue our systemic approach, with "low-carbon
initiatives” in all the Group's key functions, and by progressively
bringing our customers on board” – Caroline Parot, CEO, Europcar
Mobility Group
* Through the 2015 Paris Agreement, States committed to curbing
global temperature rise to well-below 2°C by 2100. In 2018, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that global
warming must not exceed 1.5°C to avoid the catastrophic impacts of
climate change. To achieve this, GHG emissions must halve by 2030 –
and drop to net-zero by 2050. With this limited time for action,
the private sector has a crucial role to play – every sector in
every market must transform.
Companies joining the Science-Based Targets initiative are
engaged in cutting emissions at scale.
** The issuance of the Sustainability-linked financial Bond has
been supported by:
- BNP Paribas as lead left bank, ESG advisor and global
coordinator,
- CACIB as global coordinator and rating advisor,
- HSBC as global coordinator.
The Sustainability-Linked Notes will bear interest at a rate of
3.0% per annum, subject to adjustments described below, and payable
semi-annually. These are excellent financial terms in view of the
rating of the existing Senior Secured Notes due 2022 issued by EC
Finance plc (the “2022 Notes”): rated CCC+ by S&P and
upgraded to B2 from B3 on Sept 21, 2021 by Moody’s.
***See details on Group’s Investors website:
- Group’s ESG framework for the issuance of the bond
-
https://investors.europcar-group.com/static-files/5f972620-490e-4bc8-b346-a8efdbdcaf15
- VE (Vigeo Eiris) Second Party Opinion
-
https://investors.europcar-group.com/static-files/1fc9a304-0baf-4823-bd34-b340f0ff3d83
- Press release announcing the launch of an offering of €500
million sustainability-linked senior secured notes
-
https://investors.europcar-group.com/system/files-encrypted/nasdaq_kms/news/2021/09/21/7-46-19/PR%20_Issuance%20of%20Senior%20Secured%20Notes_21%20Sept%202021.pdf
**********
About Europcar Mobility Group
Europcar Mobility Group is a major player in mobility markets
and listed on Euronext Paris. Europcar Mobility Group’s purpose is
to offer attractive alternatives to vehicle ownership, in a
responsible and sustainable manner. With this in mind, the Group
offers a wide range of car and van rental services – be it for a
few hours, a few days, a week, a month or more – with a fleet that
is already "CO2 light" and equipped with the latest engines, and
which will be increasingly "green" in the years to come.
Customers’ satisfaction is at the heart of the Group’s ambition
and that of its employees. It also fuels the ongoing development of
new offerings in the Group's three service lines - Professional,
Leisure and Proximity - which respond to the specific needs and use
cases of both businesses and individuals. The Group’s 4 major
brands are: Europcar® - the European leader of car rental and light
commercial vehicle rental, Goldcar® - the low-cost car-rental
Leader in Europe, InterRent® – ‘mid-tier’ car rental and Ubeeqo® –
one of the European leaders of round-trip car-sharing (BtoB, BtoC).
Europcar Mobility Group delivers its mobility solutions worldwide
through an extensive network in over 140 countries (including
wholly owned subsidiaries – 18 in Europe, 1 in the USA, 2 in
Australia and New Zealand – completed by franchises and
partners).
Further details on our website:
www.europcar-mobility-group.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210928005910/en/
Investor Relations Caroline
Cohen - caroline.cohen@europcar.com
Press Relations Valérie
Sauteret - valerie.sauteret@europcar.com Vincent Vevaud -
vincent.vevaud@europcar.com