The International Stock Exchange (TISE) has listed two green bonds, which are helping to finance the decarbonisation of telecommunications company VMED O2 UK.
The two bonds have been listed on TISE’s Qualified Investor Bond Market (QIBM) and admitted to its sustainable market segment, TISE Sustainable.
The bonds have been issued by a subsidiary of VMED O2, a 50:50 joint venture formed on 1 June between Liberty Global and Telefónica, combining the operations of Virgin Media in the UK with the operations of O2 Holdings in the UK.
Since 2013, Virgin Media had been a subsidiary of Liberty Global, an international television and telecommunications company. Mobile network operator O2 has been owned by Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica since 2006.
In May 2020, Liberty Global and Telefónica announced the merger of their UK operations through a 50:50 joint venture, which closed on 1 June this year.
The company has developed the VMED O2 Green Bond Framework, which is aligned with the Green Bond Principles 2021 administered by the International Capital Market Association.
Under this, it is issuing green bonds and using the proceeds to finance and/or refinance projects that are expected to contribute to the decarbonisation of VMED O2’s operations and underpin the UK’s digital revolution.
VMED O2 UK Financing I, a subsidiary of VMED O2, has issued the two bonds that have been listed on TISE’s QIBM and admitted to TISE Sustainable.
Ogier Corporate Finance has acted as TISE Listing Agent for the issuer and its wider group in respect of many TISE listings, including the $1.4bn 4.750% Senior Secured Notes due 2031 and £675m 4.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2031, which have been listed on TISE Sustainable.
Ropes & Gray acted as UK counsel to the issuer.