DUBAI: Dubai-based shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has said that it has secured its first sustainability-linked loan (SLL) of AED $1.5 billion, the largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The company said the five-year financing, which is structured as a revolving credit facility, is the largest corporate, non-government-linked SLL in the GCC region with over a dozen banks participating in the syndicate
“In line with Majid Al Futtaim’s ambitious sustainability strategy, the SLL aims to facilitate and support environmentally and socially sustainable economic activity and growth by incentivizing ambitious, predetermined sustainability performance objectives,” reads a statement of the company.
The company’s agreement also includes a gender diversity target for women to constitute 30 percent of board members and senior management roles.
“The signing of our first sustainability-linked loan comes as a result of, and in line with, our long-term strategic targets, including the production of more energy and water than we consume, reaching a net positive business model by 2040,” said Ziad Chalhoub, chief financial officer of Majid Al Futtaim Holding.
As part of the SLL, Majid Al Futtaim plans to have all its malls certified LEED Gold or better. A LEED certification provides independent verification of a building or neighborhood’s green features. The company said its hotels were the region’s first to receive LEED Platinum certification across its 13-hotel property portfolio earlier this year.
In its latest sustainability report published in June, the company said it has achieved 97 percent of the targets set out in its annual sustainability strategy last year, despite the business and economic disruption brought about by the pandemic.