France's Sanofi offers 1.5 billion euro bond linked to access to medicine

[March 31, 2022]  (Reuters) - French healthcare group Sanofi said it had priced a first sustainability-linked bond issue that will be indexed on access to medicines, and worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion).

The company said the costs of financing would be linked to achieving concrete targets in terms of a cumulative number of patients being provided with essential medicines over the next five years.

The notes are set to be issued in two tranches of 850 million euros and 650 million euros respectively.

 Sanofi logo at the company's headquarters during the annual results news conference in Paris, France, February 4, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

"We continue to make progress in our environmental, social and governance activities that are an essential part of our strategy and embedded into our business," said Sanofi chief financial officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon.

($1 = 0.8961 euros)

(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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