Belgian real estate investor and developer Befimmo has successfully completed a refinancing initiative to address its €1.5 bn debt pile.
The refinancing was conducted by Toronto-based private equity firm Brookfield as part of a series of transactions. Three distinct buckets of assets were financed individually on a long-term basis.
These include a club deal of €927 mln financing a bucket of 26 assets, CMBS and mezzanine financing of €250 mln for nine assets, and a senior bank facility of €290 mln financing the Zin office tower under construction near Brussels North.
The financial resources were obtained from Belgian, French, Anglo-Saxon, and German banks.
The successful legal restructuring and refinancing marks a major milestone for Befimmo, positioning the company for future growth. It provides the company with enhanced preparation for the years ahead, allowing it to deploy a strategy set in motion since the beginning of 2022.
The refinancing comes after Brookfield's Alexandrite Monnet Belgian Bidco SA acquired all shares of stock quoted REIT Befimmo in January 2023. Befimmo SA has subsequently been delisted.
The legal restructuring of the Befimmo group was finalized on 31 October, involving the merger of Befimmo SA and Fedimmo SA, followed by a demerger into several new legal entities. This move aims to optimize the legal structure, enabling more efficient financing.
Post-delisting, Befimmo adopted the FIIS status and, as part of the refinancing, transitioned to a mortgage-secured financing structure.
Befimmo’s portfolio is worth about €2.7 bn and consists of 40 offices and mixed-use buildings, as well as coworking spaces, located in Brussels, the main Belgian towns and cities, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
