HSBC hands CitizenM £415m green loans

HSBC has handed CitizenM green loans totalling more than £415m. The dual currency sustainability-linked loans, of €243.3m (£214m) and £201.7m, were facilitated by HSBC, ABN AMRO and Aareal Bank. The loans will be tied to funding specific to ESG targets across CitizenM’s 31 hotels, including the reduction of operational CO2 emissions and improving its existing green building certifications. CitizenM chief executive Klaas van Lookeren Campagne said: “We take sustainability seriously. We seek to build and operate hotels that minimise our impact on the environment, and it is important to us that our ongoing commitment to sustainability is reflected in every facet of our business.” CitizenM is one of the first major hospitality groups in Europe to take a sustainability-linked loan. Elizabeth Davies, head of hotels at HSBC UK, said: “We expect that CitizenM’s relatively early adoption of the sustainability-linked loan will help to drive further market adoption as hospitality groups seek to demonstrate a serious commitment to creating positive impacts on the environment.” CitizenM said it would continue to “develop hotels on prime locations in cities with the highest barriers to entry”. The hotelier, which can acquire development sites as well as turnkey delivered hotels, said it was open to joint ventures on individual projects. It is also considering office conversions, components of mixed-use schemes and conversions of existing hotels as well as new-build developments. London is one of its key target cities for new sites, along with Paris, Rome and Dublin. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews