Nasdaq-listed digital infrastructure firm Equinix has issued $500 million in green bonds in its inaugural offering in the Singapore market. The offer for the 3.50% senior notes due 2030 closed on March 13, and Equinix says it will use proceeds to further the operational efficiency of its portfolio.
Equinix’s debut issuance here marks the first US corporate to access the Singapore dollar market in over five years, says the firm on March 18. DBS and Standard Chartered were joint global coordinators and joint lead managers and bookrunners, while HSBC and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) were joint lead managers and bookrunners.
DBS also served as the sole green bond structuring agent. Clifford Lee, DBS’s global head of investment banking, says demand for digital services like e-commerce and artificial intelligence is expected to surge in the coming years.
”Developing innovative and efficient data centres will be integral towards enabling a sustainable future,” adds Lee. “As the first green bond by a foreign non-financial corporate issuer in Singapore, this issuance also underscores the vital role capital markets play in advancing a greener digital economy, as well as Singapore’s growing capabilities as a regional sustainable financing hub.”
Equinix announced in November 2024 its sixth data centre in Singapore, to be named SG6. With an initial investment of US$260 million, the new nine-storey data centre is expected to open in 1Q2027 and will provide 20 megawatts (MW) of capacity when complete.
Including this latest issuance, Equinix has issued a total of approximately US$7.3 billion of green bonds globally.
With the proceeds, Equinix’s allocation strategy includes covering project expenditures up to two years before the issuance of the green bonds and three years following the green bond issuance.
Equinix says it plans to allocate an amount “equal to the net proceeds from the green bonds” to finance or refinance its “eligible green projects”. These projects range from green building development and renewable energy innovations to advanced energy efficiency, resource conservation and cutting-edge decarbonisation solutions.
Leong Yee May, managing director, Singapore, Equinix, says: “As AI adoption accelerates, advancing energy efficiency and integrating the latest sustainability innovations at our data centers becomes increasingly critical. The issuance of our inaugural green bonds in Singapore underscores our commitment to designing and building energy-efficient infrastructure, and reducing our carbon footprint.”
