Press release Gothenburg, Sweden on June 4, 2021
Getinge grows with social funding
Getinge has launched a new framework for social financing and a new social bond of SEK 570 million. The capital will be used to expand the production capacity of products that save lives.
Every year, millions of people in the world suffer from conditions that require life-supporting medical technology. In addition, there is a great need for reliable products in order to safely and effectively accelerate the development and production of necessary medicines in a safe and cost effective way, so that more patients can get access.
Getinge has a central role to play in this development, which has attracted the attention of hospitals, authorities and media all over the world, not at least during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to finance initiatives with clear social sustainability benefits like this, a new social framework has been created and a new social bond has been issued. The framework has been reviewed by a third party, Sustainalytics, to ensure that it meets international principles of sustainable finance.
The new social bond was issued on June 3, 2021.
"After only 20 minutes of book building, the offer was oversubscribed several times and to better terms than we had dared to hope for. We will return regularly to the market with offers like this, so that more investors will have an opportunity to participate in the future", says Lars Sandström, CFO at Getinge.
Closing was made with a total volume of SEK 570 M at a maturity of 3 years and an interest rate of STIBOR 3 months +70 bps. SEB acted as Structuring Adviser for the Social Financing Framework and leading banks in the issue were SEB and Svenska Handelsbanken.
The capital from this social bond will be used to expand the production of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) products for treatment for patients in a highly critical condition and to expand the production of BetaBags® which is used to minimize the risk of contamination in connection with drug production, such as COVID-19 vaccines and biopharmaceutical drugs.
Both ECLS and BetaBags® have received extensive and positive international attention in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need is expected to continue to increase for the foreseeable foreseeable period.
"For us at Getinge, sustainability is a given and included in all the activities we undertake. In addition to the social value we contribute with, we also have high ambitions in areas such as the environmental impact, where we offer products that consume less energy, water and chemicals in healthcare – and we aim to become carbon neutral by 2025 in our operations. In addition to the obvious benefits this creates for our customers and society at large, this means that we also are able to issue bonds at very good terms in the market", says Lars Sandström.
Media contact:
Lars Mattsson, Head of Investor Relations
Phone: +46 (0)10 335 00 43
E-mail: lars.mattsson@getinge.com
About Getinge
With a firm belief that every person and community should have access to the best possible care, Getinge provides hospitals and life science institutions with products and solutions that aim to improve clinical results and optimize workflows. The offering includes products and solutions for intensive care, cardiovascular procedures, operating rooms, sterile reprocessing and life science. Getinge employs over 10,000 people worldwide and the products are sold in more than 135 countries.