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First US Community Bank Holding Company to Issue a Bond Dedicated to Supporting Social & Environmental Projects
BOSTON, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) (“Berkshire” or the “Company”) announced today the completion of the public offering and sale of its inaugural Sustainability Bond, offering $100.0 million of its 5.50% fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2032 (the “Notes”). The Notes were sold at par, resulting in $98.3 million in net proceeds, after underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses. The Company intends to use an amount equal to the net proceeds to finance or refinance new or existing social and environmental projects consistent with its Sustainable Financing Framework.
Berkshire is the first public US community bank holding company with under $150 billion in total assets to issue a Sustainability Bond.
“Berkshire has been at the forefront of meeting the financing needs of its communities for more than 175 years. This moment is no different as our Sustainability Bond offering reflects our commitment to supporting the communities we serve and providing the capital needed for targeted projects to help businesses prosper , realize individuals the dream of homeownership and support the transition to a low-carbon economy,” stated Nitin Mhatre, Berkshire’s CEO. “This is a significant step towards Berkshire achieving its goal of being a high-performing, leading socially responsible community bank while enabling the financial potential of its communities,” he added.
“We are thrilled by the investor response to our sustainability bond issuance. It demonstrates investor confidence in Berkshire’s vision, performance, credit discipline, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), and capital strategy. Furthermore, this issuance will help reduce our cost of capital while delivering a meaningful benefit to our communities,” added Berkshire’s Chief Financial Officer Subhadeep Basu.
Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), in a report dated June 21, 2022assigned Berkshire and Berkshire Bank (the “Bank”) first time ratings. Moody’s assigned the Bank a long-term deposit rating of “A3”. In addition, Moody’s assigned the Company an investment grade long-term issuer rating of “Baa3”. The rating outlooks are “Positive” for both the Company and the Bank.*
Berkshire’s Sustainable Financing Framework will guide the selection and management of projects. Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company, and the global leader in high-quality ESG research, ratings, and data, has independently verified that Berkshire’s Sustainable Financing Framework “is credible and impactful and aligns with the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Sustainability Bond …
Full story available on Benzinga.com
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