FirstGroup, a U.K. private sector transport operator, has secured a £150 million ($191 million) green-finance facility, which will enable the company to add 1,000 zero-emission buses to its fleet network in the United Kingdom.
Lloyds Bank was the sole owner coordinator and sole green-finance coordinator, with NatWest and Bank of America acting as participants in the facility.
Besides adding to its fleet network, FirstGroup will use the hire-purchase asset finance package to buy electric-bus chassis, moving it closer to its target of operating a zero-emission fleet by 2035.
This facility builds on the transport operator’s £300 million ($381 million) sustainability-linked loan it received in 2021, for which Lloyds Bank also was the joint ESG coordinator. It also follows a joint venture with Hitachi in November 2023 to lease up to 1,000 electric-bus batteries. NatWest agreed to join the 12-year syndicated loan facility of £96 million ($122 million) to fund the
