Emperador gets 300-m euro loan
Emperador Inc. has secured a 300-million euro (about P21 billion) sustainability-linked loan to refinance an existing obligation. This marks a first for the liquor giant and a milestone for the local food and beverage sector.
In a disclosure on Tuesday, the company led by tycoon Andrew Tan said it, along with Emperador Distillers Inc., would guarantee the new facility.
Emperador International Ltd., a wholly owned firm, obtained the loan.
The facility was arranged by a group of lenders, with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Bank of China (Hong Kong) and DBS Bank acting as mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners.
BBVA and Bank of China also serve as sustainability coordinators for the transaction, which ties financing terms to the company’s environmental performance.
The facility is structured as a sustainability-linked loan (SLL), requiring Emperador to meet two key performance indicators: reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity and increasing the use of renewable energy for electricity.
The company said the initiative reflects its effort to curb its environmental impact in an energy-intensive industry such as liquor production.
To support this goal, Emperador has invested in several capital-intensive projects. These include a bioenergy center and carbon capture facility in the town of Invergordon as well as a biomass boiler in the island of Jura, both in Scotland.
It has also secured renewable energy contracts across its operations in Scotland and installed solar panels in facilities located in the Philippines, Spain and Mexico.
