Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
has announced the terms and conditions for the issuance of domestic Social Bonds to raise funds for the acquisition of shares in
Blackmores Limited
. This issuance is based on the "Kirin Social Bond Framework" and is the largest-ever SDGs bond issued by a domestic food company. The issuance is aimed at enhancing stakeholders' understanding of
Kirin Group's
commitment to its growth strategies and Health Science as its priority domains. The acquisition of shares in
Blackmores
will expand the Health Sciences business's product range and capabilities, broaden its geographic profile and growth opportunities, and provide access to Kirin's ingredients to consumers in the
Asia-Pacific region
. The issuance is the first project to receive a subsidy announcement from the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government
for the "Fiscal 2023
ESG Bond Issuance Promotion Support Project
(social bond)." The terms and conditions of the Social Bonds can be viewed at the provided URL.
Original Press Release:
TOKYO
,
Oct. 20
--
Kirin Holdings
issued the following news release:
- Social Bonds to raise funds for the acquisition of shares in
Blackmores Limited
.
- The largest-ever and the first Social Bond issued by a domestic food company solely for the purpose of financing a corporate acquisition
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
("
Kirin Holdings
") hereby announce that we have determined the terms and conditions for the issuance of domestic Social Bonds ("Issuance") to raise funds for the acquisition of shares in
Blackmores Limited
(“Blackmores”)*1, an Australian-based company operating a natural health business, as announced in the news release on
September 22, 2023
, as follows. This Issuance is based on the "Kirin Social Bond Framework" (“Framework”) *2 , which shall be the largest-ever SDGs
bond issued by a domestic food company, and the first social bond issued by a domestic food company solely for the purpose of financing a corporate acquisition.
1. Background and Rationale of the Issuance
Under its Long-Term Management Vision, "the Kirin Group Vision 2027 ("KV2027")", the
Kirin Group
is aiming at becoming a global leader in CSV, creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals. The
Kirin Group
has formulated and defined CSV Purpose as one of the long-term nonfinancial goals of KV2027. In particular, in the field of people’s “health and well-being”, one of the priority issues within CSV Purpose, we aim to “raise the number of healthy people, lower the number of sick people, and contribute to the people who are involved in healthcare”. In order to solve social issues related to “health and well-being”, we have acquired
Blackmores
, which is highly complementary to our existing Health Science Domain. We are issuing Social Bonds to partially fund the acquisition of shares in the company.
We consider this Issuance as an opportunity to enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the Kirin Group’s commitment to its growth strategies and our Health Science as our priority domains and have decided to newly establish "Kirin Social Bond Framework," published on
Friday, September 22
, with this acquisition of shares as an eligible project.
Kirin Holdings
has obtained a second party opinion*3 from DNV BUSINESS ASSURANCE
JAPAN
K.K. ("DNV"), an independent external reviewer, that this Framework is aligned with Social Bond Principles 2023 (SBP) set by the
International Capital Market Association
(ICMA) and Social Bond Guidelines 2021 (SBGLs) set by the
Financial Services Agency of Japan
.
By executing Kirin Sustainable Finance based on this Framework and acquiring the shares in
Blackmores
, the Health Sciences business will expand its product range and capabilities and broaden its geographic profile and growth opportunities. The acquisition will expand access to Kirin’s ingredients to hundreds of millions of consumers in the
Asia-Pacific region
through Blackmores’ distribution network. The Health Science business will also benefit from Blackmores’ knowledge of consumer demands and its deep understanding of countryspecific regulations. We see a clear opportunity to deliver growth in the Health Science business through the evolution of the B2B and B2C businesses that propose solutions beyond the sales of ingredients. In addition, by creating synergies in a wide range of business areas in which both companies operate, we will solve more of the social issues related to people’s health.
This Issuance is the first project to receive a subsidy announcement from the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government
for the “Fiscal 2023
ESG Bond Issuance Promotion Support Project
(social bond)” KIRIN brings joy to society by crafting food and healthcare products inspired by the blessings of nature and the
insights of our customers.
2. Issuance Terms of Social Bonds
The terms and conditions of the Social Bonds have been determined as follows.
The Table can be viewed at: https://www.kirinholdings.com/en/newsroom/release/2023/1020_04.pdf
About
Kirin Holdings
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in
Japan
and across the globe.
Kirin Holdings
can trace its roots to
Japan Brewery
which was established in 1885.
Japan Brewery
became
Kirin Brewery
in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007,
Kirin Holdings
was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.
Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the
Kirin Group
aims to become “A global leader in CSV[*] , creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the
Kirin Group
will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.
Footnote:
[*] Creating Shared Value: combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.
Source:
Kirin Holdings
[Category: Financial/ Capital Market, Events]
