The Tesco British Land Property Partnership (TBLPP), a 50:50 joint venture between British Land and Tesco, has refinanced its Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre in Leicester.
The Tesco British Land Property Partnership (TBLPP), a 50:50 joint venture between British Land and Tesco, has refinanced its Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre in Leicester.
The new £60 mln (EUR 68 mln) five-year term loan facility, provided by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Handelsbanken, was used to repay the existing bank loan on its maturity and return funds to the partners. Crédit Agricole CIB acted as arranger and facility agent.
In conjunction with the refinancing, the joint venture was extended for a further 10 years.
TBLPP is the third joint venture between British Land and Tesco to have been successfully refinanced and extended during the last 15 months. In December 2009, Tesco BL Properties Limited agreed a new £315 mln loan facility provided by a club of five lenders; and in November last year, BLT Properties Limited secured a new £185 mln loan provided in full by one bank.
It is one of five joint ventures between British Land and Tesco which together hold properties valued at £1.8 bn. Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre is situated on the outskirts of Leicester and serves one of the UK's largest shopping populations totalling nearly 500,000 people.
The 28,000-m2 scheme comprises a total of 45 stores/restaurants and is anchored by the Midland’s largest Tesco store (150,000 sq ft). In addition to Tesco, key retailers include Argos, Boots, New Look, Next, Wilkinson and WH Smith.
