BBVA issues a €1 billion senior preferred green bond, with demand exceeding three times the initial offer
BBVA tapped the market Friday with a €1 billion seven-year green senior preferred bond, maturing in March 2031. Demand exceeded more than three times the initial offer, reaching €3.3 billion. The final price was set at mid-swap plus 90 basis points, significantly below the initial pricing (mid-swap plus 120 bp). Bookrunners were BBVA, Commerzbank, HSBC, Natixis and UBS.
This bond issue is part of BBVA’s funding plan for 2024 and will be used to preserve the bank’s MREL position. Furthermore, the issue meets the objective of carrying out at least one sustainable (ESG) issue per year.
In 2024, BBVA has issued debt on three occasions: a two-tranche senior debt in dollars, in the amount of $2 billion; a Tier 2 subordinated debt of €1.25 billion; and a €1.25 billion senior preferred debt.
Since 2018, BBVA has issued four other green bonds: a senior preferred bond in the amount of 425 million Swiss francs in 2022; two senior non-preferred debt issues in 2018 and 2019 for €1 billion, respectively; and a contingent convertible (CoCo) bond issued in 2020, also for €1 billion. In addition, the bank has issued two social senior preferred bonds, each for €1 billion. The first social bond was designed to alleviate the impact of Covid-19, in 2020, and another social bond was issued in 2021.