With disbursement on August 12, 2025, CHG-MERIDIAN has successfully issued a bonded loan with a total volume of €150 million – its biggest to date. The loan consists of various tranches with maturities of four to six years and was placed on the market during a marketing phase of around six weeks. Along with numerous existing investors, international lenders were actively targeted for the first time. 

The transaction was supported by Commerzbank and DZ BANK, the first time that they have acted together as co-arrangers for CHG-MERIDIAN in this way. The success of this placement underlines the confidence that the capital markets have in CHG-MERIDIAN’s strategic direction and creditworthiness. 

“We see our entry into the international bonded loan market as a logical extension of our global corporate footprint, which is now reflected in our funding structure too,” explains Ulrich Bergmann, CFO of the CHG-MERIDIAN Group. “This is a groundbreaking step for our Company. It is a highly promising start that, in the long term, will enable us to establish ourselves as an issuer with international banks and to put ourselves on an even broader footing going forward.”

Whereas there was still strong demand for ESG-linked finance last year, such transactions are now only rarely placed in forms relevant to CHG-MERIDIAN because of the current market conditions.

“We have noticed that demand for sustainable finance has declined significantly, and nearly all such transactions are now being arranged on a project basis,” reports Bergmann. “Nevertheless, sustainability must remain a key driver for the future – but without holding companies back. At present, there is no balanced framework that allows sufficient flexibility for doing business while also providing clear guidance. A practicable set of rules on dealing with ESG criteria would not only instill a sense of confidence but also give fresh momentum to the currently weakening market for green funding instruments.”