QIAGEN Underlines and Innovates Its Commitment to Sustainability With a EUR 400mn Sustainability-linked Credit Facility
QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard QIA) announced today that it has successfully concluded a syndicated revolving credit facility for EUR 400mn with an interest rate linked to the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
The agreement makes QIAGEN the first provider of molecular diagnostics solutions with a sustainability component built into corporate borrowing. It underlines QIAGEN’s commitment to people and planet by creating financial incentives to further integrate sustainability throughout every part of its business.
The facility will run for three years and each lender will be able to extend this period by one year two times. It replaces a facility of the same amount that runs until December 2021 and will be used for general corporate purposes including potential acquisitions. One factor determining the new facility’s credit margin will be QIAGEN’s sustainability rating, as assigned by ISS-ESG. This independent and highly regarded sustainability-ratings agency in July 2020 awarded QIAGEN its top-flight “Prime” rating.
“Our mission to make improvements in life possible includes sustainable business practices,” said Roland Sackers, Chief Financial Officer of QIAGEN. “By linking this new credit facility to our sustainability rating, we are creating a new incentive to further foster and embed sustainability in all business areas. An improved ESG rating triggers interest-margin gains and QIAGEN will donate any money saved this way to sustainable causes.”
The syndicated credit facility is provided by a group of eleven core relationship banks and syndication was significantly oversubscribed. Deutsche Bank AG and UniCredit Bank AG were mandated as coordinators with Deutsche Bank AG acting as the Documentation and Facility Agent and UniCredit Bank AG as the sustainability coordinator.
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