ING coordinates US$260m sustainability-linked loan for HK’s Hop Lun

Hop Lun designs and manufactures products for more than 200 brands.

ING announced that it served as the sole sustainability coordinator in the conversion of a US$260m loan by Hop Lun, an international lingerie and swimwear designer and manufacturer owned by Platinum Equity.

Hop Lun designs and manufactures products for more than 200 brands serving a diverse group of clients including supermarkets, fast-fashion retailers, lingerie specialists and online brands, primarily based in the US, EU and UK. The company employs over 25,000 workers across its 12 manufacturing facilities in China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

Hop Lun converted its syndicated bank loan into a sustainability-linked loan (SLL). ING acted as one of the four bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers that underwrote the acquisition financing package backing Platinum’s acquisition of Hop Lun in 2022. 

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The SLL for Hop Lun, structured by ING, links the facility interest margin to improvements or deterioration in the three key performance indicators: 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.

ING APAC chief executive officer Anju Abrol expressed delight that they are able to support Hop Lun in its sustainability journey and facilitate the net-zero transition of the apparel industry. 

“We expect transactions such as Hop Lun to pave the way for more private equity sector interest in sustainable finance as the market matures in APAC,” Abrol said.

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The transaction also marks ING APAC’s second transaction in 2023 where it served its sole sustainability coordinator mandate backing private equity-owned companies. This follows after the announced Goodpack SLL transaction.