Unite Group has secured a £400m (€646.3m) refinancing facility from UK specialist pensions insurer Rothesay for its UK student accommodation fund.
Rothesay has provided the eight-year investment facility to refinance a public securitisation for the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF).
Established in 2006, USAF is UK’s largest specialist student accommodation fund. Rothesay said the loan is secured against a portfolio of 23 purpose-built student accommodation assets located across 15 cities in the UK.
Harish Haridas, head of commercial real estate at Rothesay, said: “Rothesay’s in-house asset management and origination teams are dedicated to delivering high-quality, long-term investments like this, providing real retirement security for the over one million people whose pensions we protect.
“We’re pleased to complete this investment with the Unite Group and continue to grow our support for the higher education sector which plays a vital role in the UK economy.”
Gary Leadbeater, director of group treasury and financial planning and analysis at Unite Group, said: “It was great to partner with Rothesay on this transaction – they were very diligent while also being pragmatic throughout the process.
“This new £400m loan will increase available liquidity and keeps us well-positioned to deliver on our strategy, all while keeping our average cost of debt in line with expectations.”
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