DP World prices €750m green and $750m notes

DP World has priced a dual-tranche international bond offering comprising €750 million of six-year green notes and $750 million of 10-year conventional notes, extending the Dubai-based ports and logistics group’s access to both sustainable and conventional debt markets.

The transaction follows a global investor roadshow arranged under DP World’s $10 billion Global Medium Term Note Programme. The euro-denominated tranche is structured as green notes, while the dollar tranche is a conventional senior unsecured offering. Both are being issued under Regulation S for investors outside the United States.

DP World is rated Baa2 by Moody’s and BBB+ by Fitch, with stable outlooks from both agencies. The investment-grade ratings were unchanged when the company reported its first-half results in August, when management said pre-IFRS 16 leverage stood at 3.7 times, within its financial policy of keeping the measure below 4.0 times.

Proceeds from the green tranche are intended to finance or refinance eligible projects in accordance with DP World’s sustainable finance framework. The framework sets out categories for environmental investment and provides the basis for identifying projects that can be supported through labelled debt. The conventional dollar notes provide the company with longer-dated funding in a separate currency and broaden the maturity profile of its borrowings.

The financing also arrives shortly before an existing euro maturity, allowing DP World to maintain access to that investor base while extending duration. Its sustainable finance framework permits proceeds from labelled instruments to be allocated to eligible expenditure, subject to the framework’s criteria and reporting arrangements. The green designation applies only to the six-year euro tranche; the 10-year dollar notes remain conventional debt, a distinction that separates the use-of-proceeds structure from the company’s broader corporate financing needs at present.

The offering was brought to market after DP World appointed Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, J. P. Morgan, Mashreq, Standard Chartered Bank and Societe Generale as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. Citi coordinated the investor roadshow.

The deal comes as Gulf borrowers return to international debt markets after the summer period, with investors balancing still-elevated geopolitical risks against strong demand for investment-grade regional credit. Several UAE issuers have approached the market this month, testing appetite ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting and amid shifts in Treasury yields.

For DP World, the transaction also adds to a funding strategy that has increasingly combined conventional bonds, sukuk and sustainability-linked or green instruments. The group has previously issued green sukuk and maintains a portfolio of outstanding debt across several currencies and maturities.

The new euro notes are particularly relevant because DP World already has €750 million of 2.375 per cent notes due on September 25, 2026. That maturity forms part of the group’s existing debt schedule and gives added context to the timing of the latest euro-denominated issuance, though the new green notes are a separate security with a six-year tenor.

DP World reported revenue of $12.7 billion for the six months ended June 30, up 13.1 per cent from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 5.6 per cent to $2.86 billion, while the adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 22.5 per cent.

Cash generated from operating activities was $2.0 billion during the first half. The group said it had $5.5 billion of cash and $2.7 billion of undrawn committed borrowing facilities at the end of June, giving it total liquidity of $8.2 billion.

Capital expenditure reached $1.5 billion in the first half, and DP World has said it expects to invest about $3.0 billion during 2026. Spending is focused on capacity expansion, terminal development and logistics infrastructure, including projects at Jebel Ali, London Gateway, Banana Port in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuna Tekra Kandla, Drydocks World and logistics operations in Jeddah.