General Mills Becomes First U.S. Investment Grade Consumer Packaged Goods Company to Execute a Sustainability-Linked Bond
October 06 2021 - 11:21AM
Business Wire
General Mills (NYSE: GIS) today announced its inaugural
sustainability-linked bond aligned to the company’s efforts to
combat climate change. The 10-year, $500 million
sustainability-linked bond is tied to measurable improvements on
the pathway to General Mills’ commitment to reduce absolute
greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent across its value chain by
2030.
“Climate change and its effects are having an impact on our
planet, people’s lives and on General Mills’ ability to live out
our purpose of making food the world loves,” said Kofi Bruce, chief
financial officer, General Mills. “General Mills is focused on
reducing emissions across our value chain, and we are making
strategic financial investments connected to our sustainability
goals to further advance and support this important work.”
With the issuance of this bond, General Mills links the coupon
of the bond to the performance against the company’s 2030
greenhouse gas reduction goal. The interest owed to bond investors
will increase if the company fails to reach the interim reduction
targets (Scope 1 and 2) by 2025. Company initiatives to reduce
carbon emissions include energy efficiency at plant locations,
shifts to renewable electricity and continued pursuit of other
innovations.
General Mills structured its bond to align with International
Capital Market Association’s Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles
2020. General Mills published a Sustainability-Linked Bond
Framework, which can be found on the company’s website, and
obtained a second party opinion on the framework from ISS ESG. An
external verification from a qualified third party on General
Mills’ performance will be made public annually and the emissions
data will be communicated through the company’s Global
Responsibility Report.
BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Citigroup Global Markets Inc.,
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
served as joint book-running managers on the offering. BNP Paribas
Securities Corp. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC were the
Co-Sustainability Coordinators to General Mills.
In 2015, General Mills was the first company across any sector
to set a greenhouse gas reduction commitment approved by the
Science-Based Target Initiative across its full value chain, from
farm to fork to landfill. Earlier this year, General Mills was the
first U.S. consumer packaged goods company to enter into a
sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, which included a
pricing structure tied to progress in reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and purchasing renewable energy certificates to cover
electricity usage.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, including the
sustainability-linked bonds. There shall not be any sale of the
securities described herein in any state or other jurisdictions in
which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such
state or other jurisdiction.
About General Mills
General Mills makes food the world loves. The company is guided
by its Accelerate strategy to drive shareholder value by boldly
building its brands, relentlessly innovating, unleashing its scale
and being a force for good. Its portfolio of beloved brands
includes household names such as Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue
Buffalo, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker,
Yoplait, Annie’s, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2021
net sales of U.S. $18.1 billion. In addition, the company’s share
of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.1
billion.
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