VNG boosts financial power with Schuldschein promissory note loan
High demand led to oversubscription, which VNG used as an opportunity to increase the original issue volume of EUR 100 million. The loan was collected in several tranches with terms of five and seven years. The issue was supported by Helaba (state bank of Hesse and Thuringia) and SEB AB Frankfurt branch as arrangers. In choosing the Schuldschein issue, the company has opted for a tried and tested, long-term financing instrument. The associated market has been characterised by increasing momentum, internationalism and receptiveness through a wide investor base in recent years.
Bodo Rodestock, member of the VNG AG Executive Board is extremely pleased with the successful promissory note issue. “We see VNG as partnering and shaping the energy transition. And at the same time as ‘caretaker’ for the provision of a resilient gas infrastructure in eastern Germany. Successful placement of the new promissory note with clear oversubscription is a sign of much confidence and confirmation that the capital market believes in our business model and our corporate transformation towards renewable gases.”
The new capital will safeguard investment already made, particularly in infrastructure and biogas and thus drive forward implementation of the strategy. “We have set out our way ahead in the ‘VNG 2030+’ strategy, which is helping us evolve into a green, digital group of companies with core expertise in the gas business – while embracing our roots in eastern Germany. As we do so, we will always have a close eye on structural changes that are on their way, providing public utilities and contributing to the common good in our region,” confirms Rodestock.
VNG is a group of over 20 companies active in the European energy industry, employing about 1,700 people. As a gas importer and wholesaler as well as an operator of critical gas infrastructure, the Group, which is headquartered in Leipzig, is central to the secure supply of gas in Germany. With the “VNG 2030+” strategy, VNG is also pursuing an ambitious path for a market ramp-up of renewable and decarbonised gases such as biogas and hydrogen, paving the way for a sustainable, secure supply and, in the long term, climate-neutral energy system of the future.
