Cleary Gottlieb represented Crédit Agricole S.A. (Crédit Agricole) in an offering of €1 billion senior preferred fixed-rate green notes due 2023 (the notes) pursuant to its €75 billion euro medium-term note program.
The joint lead managers for the offering were Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Barclays Bank Plc., Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, ING Bank N.V., and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (Publ). The transaction closed on December 5, 2018.
The offering is the first issue of green notes for Crédit Agricole. The notes will mature in 2023, bear a fixed interest rate of 0.75% per annum, and are listed on Euronext Paris. The net proceeds will be used to finance and/or refinance eligible green assets consisting of new or existing loans and investments in categories such as renewable energy, green buildings, energy efficiency, clean transportation, waste and water management, or sustainable agriculture and forest management as further described in Crédit Agricole’s green bond framework.
Crédit Agricole is the lead bank of the Crédit Agricole Group, which is the largest banking group in France, and one of the largest in the world.