UOB and HSBC act as green loan coordinators for $1.85 loan

The Gaw Capital Partners-led consortium will use the loan for the acquisition of office buildings.

UOB and HSBC acted as green loan coordinators on club loan facilities to a Gaw Capital Partners-led consortium. These facilities comprise a US$110m ($853m) offshore loan and an RMB837m ($992m) onshore loan. Maybank, BNP Paribas and KGI also participated in the club deal.

The loan proceeds will be used to refinance the existing loans for the consortium's acquisition of four premium office buildings at Shanghai MixC, a set of quadruplet eight-storey buildings in the Minhang District. The buildings have received the LEED v4 Building Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings Gold certification from the US Green Building Council for their environmentally-friendly features. The features include LED lights for the office lobby, control measures at elevators to conserve energy, environmentally-friendly architectural paints sourced in the local market to reduce transport emissions, and garbage classification for better waste management.

Gaw Capital Partners managing principal Christina Gaw said, "At Gaw Capital, ESG considerations are essential to our investment selection criteria and asset management. We look for opportunities to enhance value in assets that we acquire through ESG measures and aim to reduce the assets' carbon footprint. Investors consider green and energy-efficient buildings a necessity in the long run. We strongly believe that environmentally sound real estate will lead to better performance and well-being of a property's users."

The loan facilities support the consortium's continued efforts in implementing its sustainability strategy to improve environmental performance and contribute to the United Nations' Sustainability Development Goals.