French property giant Icade secured a EUR 1.5 bn loan from eight banks over the summer in a move which allows it to refinance its acquisition of business park owner Silic.
French property giant Icade secured a EUR 1.5 bn loan from eight banks over the summer in a move which allows it to refinance its acquisition of business park owner Silic.
The deal is the largest in a series of bank refinancings provided in the past few months to Europe’s quoted property industry. In August, Dutch listed real estate company NSI refinanced its outstanding debt with Deutsche Bank. The agreement, covering EUR 121 mln of debt which was to mature in 2012-13, was sealed at a cost of 250 basis points over Euribor.
Foncière des Murs, a subsidiary of Foncière des Régions, signed two financing agreements with banks for a total of EUR 228 mln, thereby refinancing all of its 2013 maturities. Similarly, French office REIT CeGeREAL secured EUR 400 mln in new funds to replace its bank loan due in March 2013. The lending consortium consists of German groups Aareal Bank, Bayern LB, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Landesbank Berlin / Berlin Hyp. Even Beni Stabili - the Italian real estate investment trust - was able to restructure its debt for a relatively low cost of 375 basis points.
These deals send an important message of confidence in the listed property sector at a time when financing for the non-listed segment has virtually come to a halt, according to Stephan van Weeren, an equity analyst with Petercam in Amsterdam. 'The fact that banks are still refinancing the listed sector at decent rates is an important sign and shows that the financial institutions are still committed to this segment,’ he noted. ‘Financing issues are largely limited to the non-listed industry.'
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