Bank of China joins €572m financing of UK listed property company

Bank of China has joined five European banks and one US lender in supporting a new £450 mln (€572 mln) unsecured revolving credit facility for Great Portland Estates (GPE).

London-listed GPE said that the signing of the facility marked a new unsecured lending relationship with Bank of China, and the re-establishment of such ties with US bank Wells Fargo. The other lenders are RBS, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds and Crédit Agricole CIB.

Nick Sanderson, finance director of GPE, commented: 'By taking advantage of current market conditions, this facility adds further flexibility to our already strong and well diversified debt book. The level of support for this facility is a continued vote of confidence in our focused business model, prime Central London property portfolio and conservative capital structure.'

GPE is a real estate investment and development company focused on Central London. It owns a portfolio valued at £2.7 bn.

The facility has an initial five-year term which may be extended to a maximum of seven years at GPE’s request, subject to bank consent. The loan has a headline margin of 105 basis points over LIBOR and its terms include GPE’s standard unsecured financial covenants.

The new facility replaces the £350 mln and £150 mln loans which were due to mature in November 2015 and February 2017 respectively. Following this transaction, GPE currently has undrawn committed facilities and cash of approximately £400 mln and the next group level debt maturity is not until June 2018.