ANZ backs EVs (again)

ANZ has once again helped carmaker Hyundai Motor Group secure sustainable-finance funding, this time to support the group’s first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in the United States.

The bank acted as ECA and green loan coordinator, mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on a $US1.35 billion, green-labeled K-Sure covered term-loan facility. The funding will add an expected manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units annually to the Metaplant Complex in the state of Georgia.

The same facility was financed by ANZ in 2023 to the tune of $US940 million, with another green-labelled term-loan facility to support Hyundai MOBIS (a subsidiary under Hyundai Motor Group) on EV-related parts production.

The funding is a green export credit agency (ECA) backed loan, and adheres to the Loan Market Association’s Green Loan Principles.

ANZ’s Global Head of Project, Export & Asset Finance, Aaron Ross, said the latest support for Hyundai Motor Group underscores the bank’s market-leading position in the Korean ECA sector.

“ANZ is confident it can deliver low risk, capital-efficient and high-returning facilities that meet our customer needs,” he said. “We have now executed four major EV sector transactions backed by Korean ECAs in the past five years.

“Leveraging our expertise across Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and the US, ANZ has been able to consistently deliver smart solutions by integrating sustainable finance to meet customers' strategic and evolving needs.”

ANZ has set a target to fund and facilitate at least $A100 billion in social and environmental outcomes through customer activities and direct investments by the end of FY2030, including $A15 billion by the end of FY2024 in social and environmental activities through customer transactions and direct investments by ANZ. This includes initiatives that aim to help lower carbon emissions, protect nature, increase access to affordable housing and promote financial wellbeing, as described in the target methodology.

Hyundai Motor Group is South Korea’s largest car manufacturer and the third largest in the world. ANZ is a long-term key financing partner for the automaker, and in 2022 helped finance an electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Indonesia for HLI Green Power, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.

Earlier that year, ANZ helped subsidiary Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre obtain its first green loan. ANZ acted as joint lead arranger and sustainability adviser on a $S230 million deal.