Spark keeps SPT focus tight in New Zealand’s first SLB

Spark Finance elected to include a single sustainability performance target with a twofold measurement approach in its latest deal, New Zealand’s first sustainability-linked bond. Issuer and lead manager say the deal, which is linked to a greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target, received strong support from institutional investors.
AusNet’s investor base stays true in first post-takeover bond

Robust investor engagement supported AusNet Services’ first deal since the electricity and gas distributor’s acquisition last year by a Brookfield Asset Management-led consortium. The transaction was one of Australia’s first true corporate deals of 2022 and is a clear sign markets are calming, according to deal sources.
Endeavour’s SLL shows transmission in transition

Endeavour Energy says its newly signed sustainability-linked loan is the first from an electricity distribution network service provider in Australia. The borrower tells KangaNews line-loss related emissions were the most challenging hurdle to overcome as it sought maximum impact from the facility.
Pepper targets US dollar tranches after back-to-back domestic issuance

Strong growth in mortgage originations led Pepper Money to print its latest residential mortgage-backed securities just two weeks after its previous deal. Both are Australian dollar-only transactions, but the issuer is targeting a return to offshore currencies – particularly US dollars – later in the year.
Bluestone leans on existing investors in first New Zealand RMBS of 2022

Bluestone Mortgages says it received strong support for the first New Zealand dollar residential mortgage-backed securities deal of the year, having printed its inaugural trade a few months prior in December 2021. Deal sources say they are confident further opportunities will present themselves in the local securitisation market.