Schuldschein 4.0 – Helaba and Verbund AG use vc trade for first digital Schuldschein issue

Helaba was successful in gaining Verbund AG, the largest electricity producer in Austria, for the new issuance channel. The first transaction to be marketed will be a “green” Schuld­schein in an amount of EUR 100 million and with a maturity of 10 years issued by the power company, which generates the majority of its energy from hydroelectric sources. The platform replicates the established process from the issuer, through the bank to the investor in a fully digital environ­ment, leading to additional transparency, efficiency and speed in the issuance process and thereby significantly reducing transaction costs.

“For VERBUND AG, this trans­action represents a further milestone in the group’s strategy of digitalisation and sustain­ability. We are a driver for inno­vation and view the first digital, green Schuld­schein as the logical next step, having previously issued the first green corporate bond in the DACH region in 2014”, emphasises Peter Kollmann, the CFO of Verbund AG.

Stefan Fromme, co-founder and managing director of vc trade, is delighted with the success­ful launch of the platform: “In Helaba, we are happy to have found a very experienced partner and a leader in the Schuldschein market. With its farsighted vision and desire for innovation, it has played a critical role in accompanying and supporting us on our way to the issuing the first trans­action using vc trade. In view of the pending deal pipeline, we are confident that we are going in the right direction.”

Based on the latest techno­logy, the vc trade platform bundles the hitherto strongly fragmented and manually-driven issuing process. Issuers, investors, the arranging banks as well as lawyers and rating agencies all benefit from a consistent, trans­parent channel of communi­cation, shared data and file depositaries as well as interfaces that are built into the settlement systems. For the first time in the market, a centralised digital platform will support every step in the trans­action, including an algorithm-based subscription and allocation process. It combines the advantages of an innovative and fully digital platform with Helaba’s experience in ensuring trans­action security as a leading arranger of Schuld­schein loans. White & Case have been selected to provide legal support for the issue on the platform.

Helaba is already in close contact with other issuers and numerous investors who would like to use the vc trade platform in the near future for their Schuld­schein issues. That is why Kemler is expecting rapid growth in the number of users and transactions on the platform. “Especially with its fully digital environ­ment vc trade platform provides added value and efficiency gains that our clients can realise today. This is why we have chosen to issue on this platform.”

N.B.:
A press briefing on this issue will be held on Monday 19 March at 10.00 am in Verbund AG’s offices in Vienna. It can be viewed as a livestream using the following link:
www.verbund.com/pressekonferenz