Company was the first in the sector to issue long-term bonds with terms linked to achievement of social and environmental goals in Latin America

São Paulo, October 2022 – Aegea Saneamento, a leading company in the private sector, has won the Latin Finance Project & Infrastructure Awards in the “Water/Sanitation Financing of the Year” category for its issue of Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs). André Pires, CFO of Aegea, received the award at a ceremony held in New York.

Established in 1987 and published in New York and Miami, Latin Finance is also present in London and Beijing and has a network of correspondents all over Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of the leading finance market intelligence tools.

“It’s an honor to be recognized internationally for our SLB issue, especially by a renowned publication such as Latin Finance”, said Pires. “Aegea’s business model is closely aligned with ESG principles, and has as its foundation, operational efficiency, achievement of goals and responsible investments. The bonds have a synergy with all of these company guidelines, which makes this recognition even more important as it indirectly rewards the entire trajectory and evolution of the company”, he added.

In April, Aegea concluded the issue of Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLB) amounting to US$500 million and undertook to reduce energy consumption by 15% (measured as kWh/m³) by 2030, while increasing the number of women and black people in leadership positions from 32% to 45% and from 17% to 27%, respectively.

The company was the first in the sanitation sector to issue bonds linked to ESG goals in Latin America and the pioneer in setting targets for racial diversity in leadership positions in Brazil. This attitude underscores Aegea’s commitment to the ESG agenda and its focus on financial discipline and management of the capital structure.

The choice of goals also drew the attention of Latin Finance, which recognized Aegea’s efforts to have greater diversity in its leadership. “We want to represent the different ‘Brazils’ in our activities and also fulfill our social role, affirmed Pires in an interview to Latin Finance.

Instituted in 2015, the awards recognize transactions and institutions that play a significant role in the economic progress of Latin America and the Caribbean, and are selected by the editorial staff of Latin Finance after an extensive selection process.