GRPT Green Bond (IFC-47526)

Countries
  • South Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 7, 2022
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
GROWTHPOINT PROPERTIES LTD
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 54.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1.76 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Feb 8, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Feb 7, 2023

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According o bank providd information, the IFC project is a ZAR1.0 billion (about US$54.5 million) investment in unsecured green bonds issued by Growthpoint Properties Ltd. (Growthpoint or the Company or the Group).

Growthpoint is South Africa’s largest REIT listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with total property assets of US$9.9 billion (ZAR160.8 billion) as of June 30, 2022. It operates in the commercial, retail, and industrial property sectors, and has operations across South Africa, Australia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the United Kingdom.

The investment will support Growthpoint to (i) finance energy efficiency projects and renewable energy use across the Growthpoint portfolio; (ii) finance new green buildings; and/or (iii) refinance debt used to construct recently completed green buildings. The green bond issuances are a key part of Growthpoint's sustainability strategy and are aligned with its commitment to ensuring that all its portfolio buildings are carbon neutral by 2050.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

According to bank provided information, on December 13, 2022, IFC invested ZAR1.0 billion (about US$54.5 million) as a sole investor in a privately issued green bond by Growthpoint. The green bond issuances were done under Growthpoint’s existing ZAR30 billion (US$1.76 billion equivalent) Domestic Medium-Term Note (DMTN) program which is registered at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. IFC investment was into unsecured floating rate notes with 7- and 10-year tenors that will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Founded in 1987, Growthpoint Properties Ltd. (Growthpoint) is South Africa’s largest REIT, listed on the JSE with a market capitalization of US$2.6 billion (ZAR42.4 billion) as of June 30, 2022. Growthpoint owns and manages a diversified property portfolio valued at US$9.9 billion (ZAR160.8 billion) as of June 30 2022. The portfolio is also diversified across geography and sub-sectors, that is retail, office and industrial properties. Growthpoint’s portfolio comprised of the following:

a)      South Africa: (i) 408 directly owned properties in South Africa; (ii) a 50.0 percent interest in the V&A Waterfront, an iconic mixed-use development in Cape Town, South Africa; and (iii) a majority stake interest in Growthpoint Healthcare Property Holdings Ltd (“GHPH”), South Africa’s first healthcare Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT); (iv) 16.6 percent interest in Growthpoint Student Accommodation Holdings, which owns 7 student accommodation properties and 2 properties under development.

b)     Australia: a 62.2 percent interest in Growthpoint Properties Australia Limited, which owns 58 properties and is listed at the Australia Stock Exchange.

c)      Eastern Europe: a 29.4 percent interest in Globalworth Real Estate Investment Limited, which owns 71 properties in Poland and Romania.

d)     United Kingdom: a 60.8 percent interest in Capital & Regional Plc, which owns 6 properties

e)      Sub-Saharan Africa (ex-South Africa): a 16.3 percent interest in Lango Real Estate Limited (formerly Growthpoint Investec African Properties Fund), which owns 8 properties and 3 plots of land.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Limited Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Ltd Client -
- - - - Growthpoint Properties Ltd Undisclosed -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Growthpoint Properties Limited
Bushang Seroka
Treasury Manager
+27 11 944 6120
BSeroka@growthpoint.co.za 
The Place, 1 Sandton Drive, Sandton, Gauteng, 2196
www.growthpoint.co.za 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries 

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org 

How it works

How it works