Ayala signs landmark sustainability-linked credit facilities with MUFG, Sun Life

In Photo: (From l-r) Marie Diana Lynn Singson, Managing Director, Deputy Country Head and Head of Global Corporate and Investment Banking, MUFG Manila; Jaime Urquijo, Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer, Ayala Corporation; Colin Chen, Head of ESG Finance, Asia Pacific, MUFG Bank Ltd.; Albert de Larrazabal, Chief Finance Officer, Ayala Corporation; Michael Gerard Enriquez, President, Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corporation (SLIMTC); Estelito Biacora, Treasurer Ayala Corporation; Ritchie Ryan Teo, Chief Investment Officer, SLIMTC; Candy Esteban, Chief Finance Officer, Sun Life Philippine. (Brand and Reputation Management Team)

MANILA – Ayala Corporation (AC) signed with MUFG Bank, Ltd. (MUFG) and Sun Life Philippines sustainability-linked credit facilities with an aggregate amount of P5.0 billion to reaffirm its commitment to sustainable financing initiatives. This landmark transaction by a Philippine conglomerate aims to support AC’s general corporate requirements and investments in sustainability-related projects.

AC Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer Jaime Urquijo and AC Chief Finance Officer Alberto de Larrazabal led the signing ceremony last November 20, 2023, with MUFG Asia Pacific Head of ESG Finance Colin Chen and Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corporation (SLIMTC) President Michael Gerard Enriquez to commemorate the execution of the sustainability-linked credit facilities. The transaction was witnessed by AC Treasurer Estelito Biacora; MUFG Manila Managing Director, Deputy Country Head and Head of Global Corporate and Investment Banking Marie Diana Lynn Singson; Sun Life Philippines Chief Finance Officer Candy Esteban; and SLIMTC Chief Investment Officer Ritchie Ryan Teo.

“MUFG’s role as the sole sustainability coordinator for this transaction underpins AC’s trust in our established sustainability-related projects. We are honored to have cultivated a long working relationship with AC over the years. AC has been very forward thinking in their sustainability journey and we are grateful to be partnering with them on this milestone,” Chen said.

“As a stand-alone trust company, we are thrilled to be part of this landmark deal with AC as we continue to fund sustainability projects on behalf of our clients,” Enriquez said.

The sustainability linked-credit facilities are aligned with the sustainability goals of MUFG, Japan’s largest bank, and Sun Life Philippines, the country’s first and longest-standing life insurer. They are also in line with AC’s value creation framework that is anchored on its commitment to sustainability.

Larrazabal described the sustainability deal as a pioneering transaction that will enable AC’s net-zero ambition and benefit future generations. “As AC celebrates its 190th year of existence, our children’s children will look back at this day and say that we pioneered a credit facility that will support environmentally and socially sustainable economic activity and growth,” he said. ### (PR)