Sunny Optical Technology (Group) has priced its inaugural 3.5-year sustainability-linked bond offering amounting to US$400 million, the first such issuance by a Chinese corporate. 

The company is a Hong Kong-listed maker of optical lenses headquartered in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province and registered in the Cayman Islands.

The offering, the first benchmark-sized Reg S transaction from Asia ex-Japan this year, is pursuant to Sunny Optical’s sustainability-linked financing framework requiring the company to reduce the intensity of its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by FY2025 against a FY2021 baseline.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used for refinancing.

Citi and BNP Paribas acted as the joint structuring advisers, global coordinators, bookrunners and lead managers for the transaction, while Credit Agricole CIB and UBS were the other bookrunners and lead managers.

The second party opinion was provided by S&P Global Ratings.