By Fabiana Negrin Ochoa 



  Link Real Estate Investment Trust has secured a 1 billion Hong Kong dollar (US$129 million) sustainability loan from OCBC Bank, its second such loan this year. 


  The Hong Kong-listed trust said Thursday it will use the five-year loan for working capital and general corporate purposes. 


  As part of the loan agreement, Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.--better known as OCBC--will offer Link interest-rate reductions based on its environmental, social and governance performance. 


  The lender will assess Link via its continued inclusion in sustainability indexes and its GRESB score. The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark is an investor-driven organization assessing ESG in the real-estate industry. 


  The move comes as sustainability and green loans become more popular in Asia. According to Moody's, global green loan issuance was entirely driven by Asia-Pacific issuers in the first quarter. 


  Link secured its maiden sustainability-linked loan in March, a 212 million Australian dollar (US$148.3 million) loan from DBS Group, another Singapore bank. It said at the time that the loan was the first by an Asia REIT to be linked to GRESB. 


  OCBC and DBS placed first and second respectively on Bloomberg's 2019 Mandated Lead Arranger table for green and renewable energy loan issuance in Asia Pacific. 


  Write to Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at fabiana.negrinochoa@dowjones.com