Sembcorp Industries

Sembcorp Industries (SCI) is providing Sembcorp Marine with a five-year subordinated loan of $2 billion to help it retire $1.5 billion of borrowings, it said yesterday.

To fund the loan, SCI will issue $1.5 billion in bonds through a private placement underwritten by DBS Bank. SCI will fork out the balance of $500 million from its existing resources and facilities.

The SCI bonds will be issued by July 20 and carry a 3.55 per cent coupon with a five-year maturity. Temasek will be one of the investors in the bonds. The terms and conditions of the bonds are in line with SCI's existing medium-term note programme.

The move strengthens Sembcorp Marine's financial position amid the current downturn in the global offshore and marine industry, the Sembcorp Group said.

"The respective board of directors of Sembcorp Industries and Sembcorp Marine considered a wide range of options and decided that the proposed financing option would be in the best interests of the companies," they said in a joint announcement.

SCI is Sembcorp Marine's largest shareholder.

Keppel Land

Keppel Land, a unit of mainboard-listed Keppel Corp, has secured its first green loan facility via its subsidiary Keppel Land China, for the Phase 1 development of Seasons City in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City.

The green loan, disbursed by HSBC Group China, amounts to 850 million yuan (S$170 million) and will be for a five-year term. This is also the first green loan granted by HSBC Group China for the development of a property project in mainland China, Keppel announced in a bourse filing on Thursday.

Seasons City will feature three office towers and retail premises with a total gross floor area of about 161,800 square metres. Phase 1 of Seasons City, comprising a five-storey retail complex and a 10-storey office tower, is targeted for completion next year.

Green loans refer to loan instruments that exclusively finance or refinance eligible green projects. The loan to Keppel Land China will be aligned with the Green Loan Principles issued by the Loan Market Association, the Asia-Pacific Loan Market Association and the Loan Syndications & Trading Association.

In line with green standards, Seasons City is set to adopt energy-efficient lighting designs, chillers and ventilation systems. The development will also tap solar energy. The total energy and water savings to be achieved by Seasons City (Phase 1) are estimated to be over nine million yuan annually.