CaixaBank signs a €750 million ESG-Linked Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with REWE Group

• Rewe Group inaugurates the sustainable finance market with this transaction linked to its ESG performance

• CaixaBank is the only Spanish bank participating in the deal

• With its first sustainable corporate financing with a German Group, CaixaBank strengthens its presence in the country, where it has an operational branch in Frankfurt.

REWE Group has formalised a pioneering transaction as one of the first sustainable financings in Europe within the retail sector, consisting of a €750 million ESG Linked RCF Syndicated. CaixaBank, the leading financial group in Spain, has acted as MLA, and it is the only Spanish bank participating in the deal.

In this pioneering transaction, REWE Group links the credit facility rate to its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)  global score provided by ISS. As a consequence, the German Group reinforces its sustainable growth strategy. These sustainable financing transactions are aligned with the sustainability principles of the Loan Market Association.

CaixaBank, though its operational branch in Frankfurt, strengthens its position in the German market with its first sustainable corporate financing deal with a German Group. The bank has increased its activity in the sustainable finance market in the country in recent years. In 2019, it partipated in the financing of the Siemens Gamesa Group, and in 2020, in the Nordex’s inaugural ESG-Linked Loan (Acciona Group). 

REWE Group

REWE Group is one of Europe’s leading trade and tourism groups. The REWE Group touches the lives of twelve million customers every day, whether they’re shopping for groceries, DIY or gardening supplies, or planning their next business trip or vacation.

The German Group is committed to improve their performance in the sustainability field, by transforming their packaging more environmentaly friendly and improving climate protection. They are promoting initiatives for the protection and encouragement of biodiversity along supply chains.

Their goal is to establish sustainable consumption and tourism across the breadth of the market.

CaixaBank, committed to sustainability

CaixaBank is one of the financial institutions most committed to sustainability, with a Socially Responsible Banking Plan based on five areas of action that contribute directly to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Through its initiatives, the bank supports environmentally friendly initiatives and projects that contribute to preventing and mitigating climate change and encourages the transition to a low-carbon economy and social development.

The bank, chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri and directed by Gonzalo Gortázar, mobilised more than €12 billion in sustainable financing in 2020, with more than €2 billion formalised in green financing and more than €3 billion formalised in financing linked to ESG variables, where the objectives on environmental variables, with the reduction of emissions or energy efficiency standing out. The bank also participated in the issuance of 13 green, sustainable or social bonds, for a total amount of   €7.5 billion. At the end of 2020, CaixaBank was ranked 5th in Europe and 9th worldwide in green and sustainable lending in the League Tables Top Tier by volume, according to Refinitiv.

As of March 2021, CaixaBank has issued five bonds to support the UN’s Sustainable Development goals, and it is the European bank with the largest volume of ESG credit issuances in euros: three green bonds and two social bonds, with a combined value of €5 billion.