The green loan is the group's first and the first green loan for the hospitality sector in Southeast Asia.
Singapore property developer Hoi Hup Realty has received a S$332.5 million green club loan through its subsidiary Ophir-Rochor Hotel to partially finance the purchase of luxury hotel Andaz Singapore, OCBC Bank, which acted as the green loan advisor, announced in a press release on Monday.
The other club banks were Maybank Singapore and United Overseas Bank. The S$475 million sale of the 342-room five-star hotel located on Beach Road in downtown Singapore is one of the biggest transactions for a standalone hotel in the region this year.
Andaz has been incorporating energy-saving practices at the BCA Green Mark certified property since it opened in 2013, including LED lighting, using recycled water and recently introduced sustainable food procurement practices. The release noted that the green loan puts Hoi Hup «on track to make further progress along its sustainability journey to which green finance will continue to play an important role.»
Building Sustainable Finance Portfolio
This loan follows OCBC's October announcement that it intends to double its green loan assets to S$10 billion by 2022.
Linus Goh, OCBC Bank head of Global Commercial Banking, said the transaction «highlights the urgency in the shift towards green finance in our region» and noted the bank's commitment to «uncover[ing] new opportunities across industries to finance sustainable initiatives which combat climate change.»
The Monetary Authority of Singapore also announced in November that it would support the mainstreaming of green and sustainability-linked loans and expand its green bond grant scheme.
