Helical signs EUR 121m five-year loan with RBS

UK-listed property company Helical Bar has signed a £100 mln (EUR 121 mln) revolving credit facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland for a number of assets including the shopping centres at Corby Town Centre, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Basildon and offices at Fordham and Chiswick.

This five-year loan refinances £83 mln of existing debt, including £10.5 mln maturing in 2012, releasing cash of £4.2 mln and leaving £13 mln available to fund future acquisitions.

The terms of this facility allow drawdowns of up to 65% of value, with ratcheted margins from 2.50% to 3.25% dependent upon prevailing loan-to-value ratios. The company has also taken out a three-year swap at 1.20% contributing to an effective interest rate, including margin, of around 3.90% at the current utilisation level.

'The signing of this new facility with RBS clearly demonstrates Helical's ability to enhance the medium-term financing of the company, even against the backdrop of a highly illiquid lending market,' said Nigel McNair Scott, Helical Bar's finance director.