BNP Paribas Closes Sustainability-Linked Syndicated Credit Facilities with Crown Holdings

NEW YORK, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BNP Paribas, a premier global bank, today announced that it has recently helped Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (“Crown”), a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of packaging products and equipment for consumer goods and industrial products, close its $3.25bn sustainability-linked syndicated credit facilities. BNP Paribas served as Joint Sustainability Coordinator, working with Crown to integrate a sustainability feature into its credit facilities.

The announcement marks Crown as the first packaging company in the Americas to secure sustainability-linked terms for its syndicated credit facilities, and represents one of the largest sustainability-linked loans raised to date globally.

Crown signed an amendment to its existing credit facilities to, among other things, upsize its prior $2.7bn syndicated credit facilities due April 2022, reset the maturity date to December 2024 and include financing terms that reduce or increase Crown’s borrowing costs based on any changes in its Management Score per Sustainalytics. This Management Score reflects Sustainalytics’ assessment of Crown’s management of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues. The transaction complements Crown’s other recent sustainability commitments.

“We are excited to be the first packaging company in the Americas to issue a syndicated sustainability linked credit facility,” said Kevin Clothier, Vice President and Treasurer at Crown Holdings, Inc. “We have many efforts underway to make Crown a more sustainable company and we believe the new facility demonstrates our commitment to sustainability by linking our borrowing cost to Sustainalytics’ view of management’s ESG performance.”

“We are thrilled to be announcing the close of over $3bn in sustainability-linked syndicated credit facilities with Crown today,” said Cambyse Parsi, Director, Sustainable Finance at BNP Paribas. “At BNP Paribas, we’ve committed to assisting our clients with meeting their ESG objectives, and our partnership with Crown is another essential step toward meeting our own goals as a bank for a changing world.”

Last month, BNP Paribas collaborated with JetBlue Airways to close the first sustainability-linked revolving credit facility for an airline. The Bank also closed the first sustainability-linked syndicated credit facility in Canada with WSP Global, one of the world’s leading professional services firms, and in January, it closed a bi-lateral, incentive-linked corporate revolving credit facility with Brookfield Renewable Partners, one of the first SLLs offered in Canada.

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with international reach. It is present in 72 countries, with more than 202,000 employees, of whom more than 154,000 are in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three major business areas: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services, whose retail banking and financial services networks are grouped into Retail Banking & Services, and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which focuses on corporate and institutional clients. The Group supports all of its customers (individuals, associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, large businesses and institutions) in carrying out their projects by offering them financing, investment, savings and protection services. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leading specialist in retail financing in Europe. BNP Paribas is also developing its integrated retail banking model in the Mediterranean basin countries, Turkey and Eastern Europe and has a significant network in the West of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services businesses, BNP Paribas enjoys leadership in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas, as well as a solid and fast growing business in Asia Pacific.

About Crown Holdings
Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, as well as transit and protective packaging products, equipment and services to a broad range of end markets. World headquarters are located in Yardley, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit crowncork.com.

About Sustainalytics
Sustainalytics is a leading independent ESG and corporate governance research provider, ratings and analytics firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings measure a company’s exposure to industry-specific material risks and how well the company is managing those ESG risks.

Press Contacts
Keely Gispan – 212-340-5867 – keely.gispan@us.bnpparibas.com