(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s Natura & Co Holding SA sold 1.33 billion reais ($244 million) in local notes, with two multinational development banks snapping up almost half of the issuance as the company looks to boost its supply of ingredients from the Amazon jungle.
IDB Invest, an arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Finance Corporation invested 500 million reais in the issuance by the cosmetic maker, according to Natura Latin America’s Vice-President of Finance and Strategy Silvia Vilas Boas.
The bond sale commits Natura to increasing the number of ingredients it sources from the Amazon to 47 by 2026 and 49 by 2029, up from 44 at the moment. It’s operations in the Amazon helps conserve the rainforest and provides a living for 10,000 families over 2.2 million hectares, Vilas Boas said. The revenue will also help the company reduce its carbon footprint by 90% by 2030.
“The use of resources for specific projects or in the business model has a positive socio-environmental impact,” Vilas Boas said.
The debt was sold at a spread of 120 basis points over CDI benchmark, 25% less than the company’s average in similar instruments in Brazil.
IFC is the biggest investor in the issuance and worked as an anchor with 300 million reais allocated. The institution is a branch of the World Bank that invests in private industry.
The bond sale “is a milestone in our relationship with Natura,” said Manuel Reyes-Retana, regional director for South America at the IFC. “We need to create this partnership to develop and conserve the forest and we plan to recreate it with other partners.”
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