Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer advises Tideway on £250 million blue bond – a UK first in sterling corporate issuance

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has advised Tideway (collectively, Bazalgette Tunnel Limited and its affiliates) on the issuance of a £250 million 8-year Blue Bond. Tideway (Bazalgette Tunnel Limited) is the regulated utility company which is responsible for designing, building, commissioning and maintaining the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT). 

Tideway (Bazalgette Finance plc) is the first UK corporate to issue a Blue Bond in sterling. Blue Bonds, a subset of Green Bonds under the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles, are designated to denote specific investor benefits to seas and marine environments. The TTT super sewer is a unique infrastructure project with a core benefit of tackling pollution and cleaning the River Thames.

The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer team was led by Structured Finance partner Joy Amis, supported by senior associate Camille Noirot and associate Trystan Cullinan. The wider team included consultant Tim Briggs, partners Emma Stones, Tom Marshall, Matthew Job, Howard Murray, Dinesh Banani and Gabrielle Wong, of counsels Joanne Holbrook and Nicholas Rutter, senior associates Tom Kemp, Perminder Gainda, Rory White-Andrews and Chelsea Fish and associates Wilson Lu, Jen Young and Julian Nino across the firm's Competition, Regulation and Trade, Corporate, Environmental Regulation, Project Finance, Tax, US Securities and Insolvency and Finance teams.

Partner Joy Amis commented: "We are proud to have advised long-standing client Tideway on the issuance of this Blue Bond, a transformation deal which marks the first UK corporate to issue a Blue Bond in sterling. The transaction demonstrates our ability to seamlessly draw upon our cross-practice strengths and our aptitude advising on complex structured finance matters."

The firm has advised Tideway on the establishment of its £10 billion Multicurrency Programme for the issuance of Bonds and on the issuance of 18 series of Green Bonds under the Programme over the last decade, prior to Tideway's issuance of the Blue Bond.