Dutch lender ING has acted as the sole sustainability coordinator for a US$260 million financing of Hong Kong-headquartered international lingerie and swimwear original design manufacturer (ODM) Hop Lun which has manufacturing facilities in China, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Hop Lun is owned by global investment firm Platinum Equity. Hop Lun has converted its US$260 million syndicated bank loan into a sustainability-linked loan (SLL), with ING acting as one of the four bookrunning mandated lead arrangers that underwrote the acquisition financing package backing Platinum’s acquisition of Hop Lun in 2022. 

The SLL for Hop Lun, structured by ING, links the facility interest margin to improvements or deterioration in the three key performance indicators, including reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, supplier engagement using the Higg Facility Environmental Module scores of the Higg Index developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and gender balance of female supervisors across factories globally.

Anju Abrol, CEO and head of wholesale banking, ING Asia-Pacific, says: “We expect transactions such as Hop Lun to pave the way for more private equity (PE) sector interest in sustainable finance as the market matures in Asia-Pacific.”

Marko Popovic, head of acquisition finance, ING Asia-Pacific, adds: “This transaction is our second sole sustainability coordinator mandate backing PE-owned companies in Asia-Pacific this year, following the recently announced Goodpack SLL transaction. It firmly establishes ING as the sustainable finance leader within the region’s private equity-backed leveraged finance market.”