According to the bank, the bond has a maturity of 3.5 years, with a call option at 2.5 years. The settlement date is June 3, 2025, and the bonds will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange - Euro MTF Market.
The bond is expected to receive an investment-grade rating of “Baa2” from Moody’s Ratings.
The proceeds from the issuance will be used to finance and/or refinance, in whole or in part, eligible green investments under the Bank’s Green Bond Framework, contributing to a positive environmental impact. This marks Piraeus Bank’s third Green Bond issuance, and the second under the updated Green Bond Framework as of May 2024.
Piraeus Bank is the only Greek bank with three green bond issuances totaling €1.65 billion, demonstrating its strong commitment to sustainability. Approximately €800 million from the proceeds of the two existing green issuances have already been allocated to eligible green investments.
Pro forma for the new issuance, the Group’s MREL ratio stands at approximately 29.6%, further strengthening the buffer above the target by over 200 basis points compared to the requirement of 27.45% to be fully implemented on June 30, 2025.
The transaction attracted strong investor interest, with participation from over 200 institutional investors. Of these, 64% were asset managers, 27% banks, 5% hedge funds, and 4% other investors. More than 80% of the issuance was allocated to international institutional investors, mainly from the United Kingdom and Ireland (29%), France (18%), and the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) with 14%. Approximately 75% of the issuance was allocated to investors with a focus on ESG criteria.
The total order book exceeded €3.7 billion, oversubscribing the €500 million issuance target by more than 7.4 times. The success of the issuance clearly confirms investor confidence in Piraeus Bank. This success is reflected in the historically low credit spread compared to similar Senior Preferred bond issuances by a Greek bank—115 basis points for this transaction, which is lower than the initial target spread of 145 basis points. The final coupon was set at 3.00%, with the issue price at 99.68%.
BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs Europe SE (B&D), HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Société Générale, and UBS Investment Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners. Allen & Overy and the law firm Bernitsas served as legal advisors to Piraeus Bank.
