Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced that Sanoma Corporation (ticker: SANOMA) has listed its inaugural social bond on the Nasdaq Sustainable Debt Market at Nasdaq Helsinki. The bond notional is EUR 150 million with a maturity of three years. Sanoma Corporation is the first corporate issue to list a social bond on the Nasdaq Sustainable Debt Market at Nasdaq Helsinki.
The funds Sanoma raises through the issuance of the social bond will be used according to Sanoma’s Social Bond Framework to finance or refinance expenditures aimed at improving access to essential education services. The Framework covers the development and maintenance of inclusive learning solutions, such as printed and digital learning materials, digital learning and teaching platforms, and acquisitions of learning content businesses related to the target population of all K12 (i.e. primary, secondary and vocational education) students in Sanoma’s operating countries.
“Education is a fundamental human right and key to achieving sustainable development. Sanoma’s businesses have a positive impact on the lives of millions of people every day and our learning products and services enable and support teachers and schools to develop the talents of about 25 million students to reach their potential. With the issuance of our first social bond, we are offering investors the opportunity to support equal access to education and to contribute to the UN SDGs, especially Goal 4 Quality Education. We are very pleased with the issuance and listing of our bond to Nasdaq Helsinki,” says Alex Green, CFO of Sanoma Corporation.
“With over 600 instruments from 144 issuers listed on Nasdaq Sustainable Debt Market today, we have witnessed remarkable growth and impact. The Nordic region continues to demonstrate leadership in sustainable finance, with sustainable bonds now accounting for 36% of all new corporate bond listings on our Nordic exchanges, a significant increase from 30% in the same period in 2023. While green bonds have become a key component of the Nordic Corporate Bond Market, socially themed bonds have mainly been issued by governmental agencies. We welcome Sanoma’s groundbreaking transaction and hope to see more social corporate bonds made available to Nordic investors in the future,” said Axel Anderstedt-Holm, Head of European Debt Listings and Sustainable Bonds at Nasdaq.
“We are excited to welcome Sanoma’s social bond to Nasdaq Helsinki Sustainable Debt Market as our first social corporate bond in Finland,” said Henrik Husman, President of Nasdaq Helsinki. “We have now 29 sustainable bonds listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, and we look forward to seeing additional issuers following this trend.”
