25 October 2022

A girl holds a vaccination card in Sierra Leone. Credit: Gavi/2022/Joshua Kamara.

• The issue will raise funding for Gavi immunisation programmes

• The bonds are backed by pledges from 10 sovereign donors

• Seth Berkley, Gavi CEO: Today’s issue is an “invaluable tool” in “reaching more of the zero-dose children in the world who have until now never had access to life-saving vaccines.”

London, 25 October 2022 – The International Finance Facility for Immunisation Company (IFFIm) today priced a US$ 500 million, 3-year fixed rate bond to provide Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with immediately available funding to support routine immunisation in lower-income countries, reaching nearly half the world’s children.

Today’s issue will mature on 3 November 2025, has a re-offer price of 99.912%, and carries a semi-annual coupon of 4.75%. Citi, Deutsche Bank, and TD Securities are lead managers of the transaction. The World Bank is IFFIm’s treasury manager.

“This new bond transaction will go a long way towards giving Gavi the flexibility and means to address two of our most urgent priorities: helping countries catch up routine immunisation programmes that have been hit heavily by disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and reaching more of the zero-dose children in the world who have until now never had access to life-saving vaccines. As it has since it began in 2006, IFFIm is proving once again to be an invaluable tool for our mission,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi.

IFFIm’s capital base consists of approximately US$ 9.4 billion in grants and legally binding grant commitments from its 10 sovereign donors.

“This issue demonstrates IFFIm’s strengths—sovereign sponsorship, the important mission, the financial structure, and IFFIm’s ‘pure play’ for asset owners increasingly focused on ESG investment opportunities. It also shows that an issuer such as IFFIm can offer a refuge in volatile environments,” said IFFIm Board Chair Ken Lay.

Gavi’s current five-year strategy, called Gavi 5.0, stresses extending the availability of vaccines, despite the severe disruptions caused by COVID-19. This next round of funding will enable Gavi to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines.

“Connecting the private sector to investment with a social purpose through IFFIm bonds is central to sustainable development. The World Bank Treasury team is happy to once again bring IFFIm to market in support of its mission to deliver immunisation programmes to those most in need,” said Jorge Familiar, Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, IFFIm’s Treasury Manager.

With an order book of almost US$ 600 million from a diverse group of investors, IFFIm once again has attracted demand from investors keen to earn market-rate returns while supporting IFFIm’s singular purpose. Geographic placement was 68% for Europe, Middle East and Africa and 28% for the Americas with the remaining 4% placed in Asia. Central banks and official institutions took 73%, bank treasuries and corporates made up 21%, and the remaining 6% went to asset managers and insurance funds.

Lead Manager Quotes

“Congratulations to the IFFIm team for another successful US dollar outing. In a market roiled by uncertainty and volatility, IFFIm executed a comfortably oversubscribed US$ 500 million 3-year benchmark with investors attracted by the purposefulness of the institution. The high-quality order book illustrates how the IFFIm story continues to resonate with fixed income investors around the world. Citi was delighted to be appointed bookrunner on this important transaction,” said Ebba Wexler, Managing Director, Head of Sovereign, Supranational and Agency (SSA) Debt Capital Markets, Citi.

“Amidst a volatile market backdrop, IFFIm successfully returned to the US dollar market with a US$ 500 million 3-year vaccine bond. The rare offering was met with high-quality orders from global investors which cements IFFIm’s positioning as one of the most impactful issuers in the fixed income market. The proceeds will play an important role in the ongoing work of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in accelerating the development and deployment of vaccines to the most vulnerable. Deutsche Bank is proud to support IFFIm in accessing the capital markets through this financing,” said Katrin Wehle, Managing Director, Head of SSA Debt Capital Markets Origination, Deutsche Bank.

"Today's IFFIm benchmark is a clear demonstration of the loyal investor base the issuer was able to build over the recent years, which is crucial to ensure success in current market conditions. TD is proud to help IFFIm borrow for life-saving vaccines," said Salvatore Aloisi, Head of Global SSA and EAP Region Head of DCM, TD Securities.

IFFIm's financial support continues to accelerate Gavi’s delivery of vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. Since 2000, Gavi has immunised more than 891 million children and prevented more than 16 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 is widely regarded as a pioneering social bond issuer, and vaccine 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.