Continuum taps IFC to anchor its first green bond

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Continuum, a leading renewable energy developers, has tapped the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to anchor its first green bond, helping the country achieve its ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has subscribed to 10 percent of Continuum Green Energy Ltd.’s first green bond, which listed on the Singapore stock exchange on Feb. 10. The offering raised US$561 million and was oversubscribed. Proceeds will primarily be used to refinance existing debt.

Continuum, one of the largest providers of renewable power, has roughly two gigawatts of wind and solar projects across the country. The company is majority-owned by a $4 billion global infrastructure fund managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

IFC’s investment continues a relationship that began in 2014, when IFC financed Continuum’s development of a wind farm in Madhya Pradesh.

“This offering enables us to diversify our sources of funding, and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with global investors as we continue to build and grow our business,” Arvind Bansal, chief executive officer of Continuum, said.

“IFC’s investment will help Continuum maintain sustainable power generation across India. It will help support India in its ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, at a time when private capital is most needed to fund infrastructure projects and support a green, resilient economic recovery,” Isabel Chatterton, regional industry director for Natural Resources and Infrastructure, Asia Pacific at IFC, said.

IFC, one of the world’s largest financiers of climate-smart projects for developing countries, has invested $22.2 billion in long-term financing from its own account and mobilized an additional $15.7 billion from other investors for climate-related projects since 2005.

In India, IFC has a successful 31-year history of investing in the power sector, committing $2.3 billion to support the sector across 60 projects since 1989, of which 35 are renewable energy projects.