Naver said on Tuesday it issued global green bonds simultaneously in U.S. dollars and euros.

Green bonds are issued with strict limits requiring proceeds to be used only for environment-friendly projects, such as renewable energy and construction of eco-friendly buildings. Demand from global investors is high as environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing expands.

The issue comprises a $500 million five-year bond and a 500 million euro seven-year bond. The total is $1.1 billion, about 1.62 trillion won. It is the first simultaneous dollar and euro bond issuance by a South Korean private company in 6 years, since 2020. It is also the first seven-year euro bond issuance by a South Korean private company.

It secured more than $10 billion of orders from 437 investors, including large global asset managers, commercial banks and pension funds. That is 9.3 times the final issuance size.

The dollar five-year bond was set at 4.375 percent, adding 60 basis points to the U.S. five-year Treasury yield. The euro seven-year bond was set at 3.750 percent, adding 93 basis points to the euro mid-swap rate.

The premium typically required for new issuance was set at a negative level, posting a "reverse premium". The dollar bond posted the lowest five-year issuance spread for a South Korean private company. The proceeds will be used for eco-friendly data centres and energy-efficiency improvement projects.

Kim Hee-chul (김희철), Naver's chief financial officer, said, "We completed our first dual-currency issuance and confirmed investor interest." He said, "We will expand our investor base beyond Asia to Europe and continue our leap to become a global platform."

Naver also established a sustainable finance framework (SFF) in April and received an external review opinion from Moody's. The bond issuance received credit ratings of A3 and A- from Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P), respectively.