UK REIT Hammerson has offered to buy back up to EUR 200 mln in bonds for cash to manage the company's near-term debt maturities and lower the running cost of debt. The tender offer relates to the EUR 700 mln of 4.875% bonds due on 2015.
UK REIT Hammerson has offered to buy back up to EUR 200 mln in bonds for cash to manage the company's near-term debt maturities and lower the running cost of debt. The tender offer relates to the EUR 700 mln of 4.875% bonds due on 2015.
Hammerson said the move is part of the company's strategy to actively manage its balance sheet liabilities and optimise its debt structure. Bonds purchased by the company will be cancelled and will not be re-issued or re-sold. Bonds that are not tendered will remain outstanding.
The offer price will be determined by 26 April.
In an interim statement published on Thursday, the company said its borrowings totalled £2.1 bn (EUR 2.6 bn) at end-March 2012 with cash balances of £76 mln, with net debt amounting to £2 bn.
A FTSE 100 company, Hammerson is listed in London and has REIT status in the UK and France. Its manages a retail and office real estate portfolio in the UK and France valued at £5.7 bn.
Hammerson is working to sell its six-asset London office buildings, totalling 108,000 m2, as part of its revised strategy. 'As anticipated, there has been a high level of interest in our assets, and we are now evaluating these approaches,' CEO David Atkins said in the interim statement.
The company's retail holdings comprise investments in 18 large shopping centres and 18 retail parks providing a total of over 1.7 million m2 of retail space.
