29 October 2020

AstraZeneca/Marco Betti

IFFIm today priced US$ 500 million, 3-year fixed rate benchmark Vaccine Bonds that will provide Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, flexible funding for its core immunisation programmes and efforts to develop and distribute eventual COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world, particularly the poorest.

London, 29 October 2020 – The International Finance Facility for Immunisation Company (IFFIm) today priced US$500 million, 3-year fixed rate benchmark Vaccine Bonds that will provide Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, flexible funding for its core immunisation programmes and efforts to develop and distribute eventual COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world, particularly the poorest.

The transaction will mature on 6 November 2023, has a re-offer price of 99.821%, and carries a semi-annual coupon of 0.375%. This is IFFIm’s first US$ benchmark bond since its US$300 million 3-year floating rate bond in November 2017. Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, and TD Securities are lead managers of the transaction.

“As the world confronts a devastating pandemic, this latest Vaccine Bond issuance is giving Gavi the financing it needs to act quickly, boldly and flexibly," said IFFIm Board Chair Cyrus Ardalan. “These bonds enable private sector investors to directly contribute to a critical effort to address one of the biggest global challenges we face.”

"IFFIm’s Vaccine Bonds have long been an indispensable tool that allows Gavi to do what is necessary to ensure the availability of vaccines to the world’s poorest children,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "This latest issuance will give Gavi the financial headroom to continue that core work, which has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to play an essential role in the global collaboration to develop and equitably distribute eventual COVID-19 vaccines around the world."

“We are pleased to see a robust response from investors for IFFIm and Gavi to support vaccine development and distribution in response to COVID-19,” said Jingdong Hua, Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, IFFIm’s Treasury Manager. “Investors are making a critical contribution to vaccine availability in the poorest countries, while benefitting from a uniquely impactful investment opportunity and the strong credit quality of the issuer.”

The diversified and high-quality orderbook reflects the appeal of the IFFIm mission with global investors. Geographic placement was 52% for Europe, Middle East and Africa and 40% for the Americas with the remaining 8% placed with Asian investors. Central banks and official institutions took 60%, asset managers, pension funds and insurance funds made up 26% and banks, bank treasuries and corporates rounded out the book with 14%.

Lead Manager Quotes

“IFFIm has captured the attention of the global investor community in a huge oversubscription for this Vaccine Bond benchmark providing Gavi with the support needed for their on-going programs looking after children in many of the world’s poorest countries,” said Philip Brown, Head of Sustainable DCM at Citi.

“Crédit Agricole CIB is proud, honoured and privileged to have participated in IFFIm’s US$500 million Vaccine Bond, which will support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, at a time when health systems are put in jeopardy globally by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tanguy Claquin, Global Head of Sustainable Banking at Crédit Agricole CIB. “This transaction highlights IFFIm’s critical role in helping save lives in the most vulnerable countries in the world, and it brings to the fore the fact that there is arguably nothing more impactful than vaccines for children.”

“We congratulate IFFIm on the successful return to the USD market with a fixed rate Vaccine Bond,” said Paul Eustace, Managing Director, Head of EMEA Syndicate at TD Securities. “Against the backdrop of COVID-19, which has raised global awareness of the critical importance of vaccines and immunisation, this transaction benefited from remarkable momentum, attracting more than US$ 1.5 billion of demand from global investors. It is an honour to work alongside IFFIm as their work becomes even more crucial in the context of the ongoing pandemic.”

IFFIm's disbursements to Gavi– approximately US$3 billion to-date since its first bond issuance in 2006 – have accelerated Gavi’s delivery of life-saving vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. Since 2000, Gavi has immunised more than 822 million children and prevented more than 14 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries across Africa and Asia. Gavi uses economies of scale to drive down the prices of vaccines for the world's poorest countries and plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines.

IFFIm issues bonds in the international capital markets to accelerate the availability of funds for immunisation programmes and health system strengthening. IFFIm’s financial base consists of legally binding grant payments (close to US$ 7bn) from its ten sovereign donors. The World Bank is IFFIm’s treasury manager.

IFFIm is widely regarded as a pioneering social bond issuer, and vaccines bonds have enjoyed strong demand from socially responsible investors due to the clarity and focus of Gavi’s mission.

Summary Terms of the Vaccine Bonds

Disclaimer

These materials are not an offer for sale of securities. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The issuer does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States. Any offering of securities will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer and that will contain detailed information about the issuer and management, as well as financial statements.