Colombian sweets maker Colombina has signed two sustainability-linked interest-rate swap contracts totaling COP65 billion ($16 million) with the local branch of Spanish bank BBVA.
The contracts expire in September 2025 and carry an interest rate that is tied to Cali-headquartered Colombina’s performance in relation to an environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) indicator, BBVA said in a press release.
BBVA also said the ESG-linked derivative contract is the first of its kind in Colombia and will be available to other companies needing to hedge their exposure to either fluctuations in interest rates or exchange rates using cross-currency swaps.
The bank signed its first ESG-linked interest-rate swap in May last year in a deal with Italian bottle maker Vidrala.
In February 2021, Colombina took out a five-year, sustainability-linked loan from BBVA for COP20 billion, tying the credit to lowering carbon dioxide emissions and following a COP45 billion sustainable loan in 2020.