Tideway, the company building London’s new £4.2bn super sewer, has become the largest corporate issuer of green bonds in sterling after it priced a CPI-linked green bond with asset manager M&G Investments
The £200m private placement builds on Tideway’s first UK public green bond in November, with both transactions set to total £450m. Tideway is also the largest corporate issuer of CPI-linked bonds, with a total value of £275m.
Mark Corben, Tideway’s chief financial officer, said: “The £450m of long-term debt raised between both transactions further increases Tideway’s liquidity and demonstrates the strong demand amongst investors in the green financing market in the UK.”
The 24km Thames Tideway sewer tunnel aims to intercept raw sewerage before it enters the river, where it can take up to three months before the ebb and flow takes it out to sea. At present, around 40bn litres of water and untreated sewerage are poured into the Thames from London’s Victoria-era sewerage system every year.
Construction of the sewer tunnel will take place across 24 sites, including 11 along the riverbank. Work is being carried out in three sections. The West section from Acton to Fulham is being delivered by a joint venture of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty Group; the Central section from Fulham to Blackfriars by a JV of Ferrovial Agroman UK and Laing O’Rourke Construction; and the East section from Bermondsey to Stratford by a JV of Costain, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche.
Tideway is financing £3.1bn of the project’s costs, with the other £1.1bn provided Thames Water.
The Thames Tideway is set to be completed in 2024.
