Singapore property developer Hoi Hup Realty Pte Ltd (Hoi Hup Realty), has secured a S$332.5 million green club loan, through its subsidiary Ophir-Rochor Hotel, to part finance the acquisition of luxury hotel Andaz Singapore.

This is the first green loan for Southeast Asia’s hospitality industry and is also Hoi Hup Realty’s first green loan.

OCBC Bank acted as the Green Loan advisor. The other club banks were Maybank Singapore and United Overseas Bank.

This follows the announcement by M+S Pte Ltd in October that it will sell Andaz Singapore to Hoi Hup Realty.

The five-star hotel received the BCA Green Mark (Hotel) Goldplus Award in 2013 for having environment-friendly features that yield energy and water savings. Energy-efficient LED lighting, automatically-adjusting light intensity and use of NEWater in cooling towers, are just some of the measures employed for these purposes. In addition, Andaz Singapore has also implemented a number of green initiatives in its operations, including sustainable food procurement practices, recycling of unused bar soaps and coffee capsules.

This green loan was issued under Hoi Hup Realty’s green loan framework, which was developed for the acquisition of Andaz Singapore in accordance with the Green Loan Principles issued in 2018 by the Loan Market Association and the Asia-Pacific Loan Market Association. It provided guidelines for Hoi Hup Realty’s evaluation of the eligibility of Andaz Singapore as a green project based on its sustainability objectives, and will further guide the developer in the management of net proceeds from the green loan.

Andaz Singapore is the latest BCA Green Mark certified property for Hoi Hup Realty. Its strong track record, coupled with the completion of its first green loan has Hoi Hup Realty on track to make further progress along its sustainability journey to which green finance will continue to play an important role.

Mr Wong Swee Chun, Chairman of Hoi Hup Realty commented, "We at Hoi Hup aspire to continually improve ourselves as a premier real estate developer and owner through our efforts in sustainability and innovation. We are glad to have our banking partners support us and this green club loan demonstrates our commitment to sustainability in the built environment.”

OCBC Bank announced in October that it intends to build a sustainable finance portfolio of S$10 billion by 2022 and this green loan continues the steady progress that the bank has made towards its goal. This transaction also serves as a momentum builder heading into the new year, which is particularly important given Singapore’s ambitions to be a hub for green finance – an ambition undergirded by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In November, MAS announced that it would develop grant schemes to support the mainstreaming of green and sustainability linked loans.

Mr Linus Goh, Head of Global Commercial Banking, OCBC Bank said, “We are delighted to partner our long-time customer Hoi Hup on their maiden green loan and an important first for the hospitality sector in Southeast Asia. This transaction also highlights the urgency in the shift towards green finance in our region, and we at OCBC are committed to working with our customers to uncover new opportunities across industries to finance sustainable initiatives which combat climate change.”