REDWOOD CITY, Calif.,
Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's digital
infrastructure company, today announced that it priced
$1.85 billion in bonds, including
$1.35 billion in its inaugural green
bond offering. The green bonds will be used to help advance the
company's longstanding commitment to sustainability leadership and
reducing its environmental impact. The offering is expected to
close on October 7, 2020, subject to
the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Equinix intends to use most of the net proceeds from the
offering to fund the redemption of all of its outstanding
€1,000,000,000 2.875% Senior Notes due 2025 and €500,000,000 of its
outstanding €1,000,000,000 2.875% Senior Notes due 2026, including,
in each case, the payment of premiums, if applicable, and accrued
and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date.
Equinix intends to use any remaining net proceeds from the offering
for general corporate purposes.
In conjuction with the green bond offering, Equinix has
developed a Green Finance Framework, based on the Green Bond
Principles and Green Loan Principles, a set of guidelines that
promote transparency and integrity in, and advance the
standardization of, green debt disclosures. As outlined in the
Framework, an amount equal to the net proceeds of the green bonds
will be allocated to finance or refinance, in whole or in part,
ongoing and new projects in categories such as green buildings,
renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable water and
wastewater management, waste management and clean
transportation that are expected to deliver benefits to
Equinix and its shareholders. The Framework is expected to further
increase Equinix's focus on protecting the environment and
addressing global climate change through greenhouse gas emissions
reduction and drive corporate transparency and accountability.
These investments are intended to benefit the communities in which
Equinix operates, its employees and stakeholders, contributing to
Equinix's mission to design, build and operate sustainable digital
infrastructure.
Until an amount equal to the net proceeds from the green bonds
has been fully allocated, Equinix will report annually through an
allocation and impact report on the use of such funds and their
environmental impacts. The report will be published on Equinix's
Corporate Sustainability website. Sustainalytics, a leading global
provider of ESG research, ratings and data, issued a second-party
opinion on the environmental benefits of Equinix's Green
Finance Framework as well as its alignment with the Green Bond
Principles and Green Loan Principles.
For the offering of the bonds, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC,
ING Financial Markets LLC, RBC Capital Markets, LLC and TD
Securities (USA) LLC served as
joint book-running managers, BofA Securities, Inc., Citigroup
Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, MUFG Securities
Americas Inc., SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., Deutsche Bank
Securities Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC,
Barclays Capital Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Mizuho
Securities USA LLC and Scotia
Capital (USA) Inc. served as
bookrunners and PNC Capital Markets LLC, U.S. Bancorp Investments,
Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as co-managers. ING
served as sole Green Bond Structuring Agent.
Highlights/Key Facts
Equinix is dedicated to protecting, connecting and powering a
sustainable digital world. Equinix's green initiatives as outlined
in its Green Finance Framework are environmentally responsible and
will have the greatest societal benefits as outlined by the United
Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. Some examples of
Equinix's commitments include:
- Sustainable Buildings – Building and maintaining healthy
and sustainable office and data center settings to promote
responsible consumption across its portfolio. In addition to
targeting LEED Gold or other local equivalent green building
standards on new construction, Equinix will deploy cutting-edge
innovations in its data centers that benefit customers, such as
artificial intelligence to identify new energy efficiencies and
drive down its Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). A design average
annual PUE threshold of 1.45 or better has been set within the
Green Finance Framework, which exceeds industry benchmarks.
- Renewable Energy – Reaching its long-term goal of using
100 percent clean and renewable energy across its global portfolio.
In 2019, Equinix achieved 92 percent of this goal and has 225 MW of
wind power under long-term contracts, as well as numerous supply
contracts for renewable power around the world. Every megawatt-hour
(MWh) of renewable energy procured reduces the carbon footprint of
both Equinix and its customers, greening their digital supply
chains.
- Energy Efficiency – Deploying best-in-class data center
energy efficiency technologies and innovations for the reduction of
energy consumption globally. Among other initiatives, Equinix's
Center of Excellence for Energy Efficiency is driving a global
approach to cooling its existing data centers more efficiently. The
program engages customers to manage their implementations more
sustainably at Equinix data center facilities, leading to overall
improved efficiencies.
Quotes
- Keith Taylor, Chief Financial
Officer, Equinix
"Issuing our inaugural green bonds
demonstrates Equinix's continued long-term commitment to green our
data center footprint, delivering wide-reaching environmental
benefits for not only ourselves and our communities but also our
global customers."
- Chris Kimm, Senior Vice
President of Americas IBX Operations, Equinix
"These
green bonds will serve as a mechanism for Equinix to further invest
in innovative designs and technologies that take action with regard
to global climate change by meaningfully increasing our efficiency
in resource consumption to ensure we continue to operate
sustainably."
Additional Resources
- Green Finance Framework [website]
- Second-Party Opinion Report [PDF]
- Equinix Sustainability [website]
- Equinix FY19 Sustainability Report [PDF]
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to purchase the bonds or any other
securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale
in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation
or sale would be unlawful. In addition, this press release is not
an offer to purchase or a notice of redemption with regard to any
outstanding notes or any other securities.
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the
world's digital infrastructure company, enabling digital leaders to
harness a trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the
foundational infrastructure that powers their success. Equinix
enables today's businesses to access all the right places, partners
and possibilities they need to accelerate advantage. With Equinix,
they can scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services,
deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements that are based on Equinix's
current expectations, including statements regarding the offering
of the bonds, its sustainability objectives, the receipt and use of
the net proceeds from the offering of the bonds and the
consummation of any redemptions of outstanding notes. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, including market conditions,
customary closing conditions and other factors. In particular,
there can be no assurance that Equinix will complete the offering
of the bonds. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results may vary materially from those expected. More
information about potential risk factors that could affect Equinix
and its results is included in Equinix's filings with the
SEC. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update
the forward-looking information contained in this press
release.
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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.