London-listed Intu Properties has announced the pricing of its £485 mln (€578 mln) bond issue that is backed by the retail specialist's Metrocentre, the largest covered shopping and leisure centre in Europe.
London-listed Intu Properties has announced the pricing of its £485 mln (€578 mln) bond issue that is backed by the retail specialist's Metrocentre, the largest covered shopping and leisure centre in Europe.
Intu Metrocentre Finance, the issuance vehicle for The Metrocentre Partnership, is a single tranche £485 mln, ten-year, 4.125 per cent bond, priced at a spread of 137 basis points over the relevant reference gilt. This represents an initial loan-to-value ratio of 55% based on a valuation prepared for the purposes of the bond issue of £881 mln at 28 October 2013.
The bond will be rated Asf by Fitch and BBB+(sf) by Standard & Poor’s. HSBC and Lloyds Bank acted as joint bookrunners. Rothschild provided independent debt advice.
The bond will be secured on intu Metrocentre, the prime super-regional shopping centre and retail park in Gateshead and the largest covered shopping and leisure centre in Europe.
The proceeds of the issue will be used to repay the existing debt facilities secured on Intu Metrocentre, with a small net receipt to Intu. The cost of borrowing of the new bond represents a saving of some 160 basis points compared to the existing debt facilities and will reduce the group’s average cost of borrowing to 4.9%.
