Irish office and logistics landlord IPUT Real Estate said on Friday that it has secured a new and upsized €300 mln revolving credit facility (RCF) with US bank Wells Fargo.
The facility includes a €200 mln green component, representing the largest green facility in the Irish real estate market. IPUT also raised an additional €200 mln in the US Private Placement market in early 2020.
As a result of these transactions the weighted average maturity of IPUT’s debt has increased from 3 years to 7.5 years with an extremely low LTV of 7%.
€300m RCF
IPUT has upsized its existing RCF with Wells Fargo by €50 mln to €300 mln. IPUT was the first Irish property company to sign the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2019 and, within the scope of the upsized RCF, has put in place the largest green finance facility in the Irish real estate market.
The €200 mln green component will be used to finance projects which meet a defined set of sustainability criteria under IPUT’s Green Finance Framework. That framework is based on the ‘Green Loan Principles’ developed by the European Loan Market Association. The relevant criteria include a minimum LEED Gold equivalent rating for environmental efficiency, a defined improvement in a building’s BER rating and, a range of other renewable and energy efficiency metrics.
€200m US Private Placement
During the first quarter, IPUT also raised €200 mln from 11 institutional investors through a US private placement offering. This debt raising consisted of two tranches: €75 mln at 1.10% repayable in 2030 and €125 mln at 1.25% repayable in 2032.
Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive of IPUT Real Estate, said: ‘The long-term winners in real estate will be those who place sustainability and the occupier experience at the centre of their investment decisions - attributes we believe are now more important than ever before.’
He added: ‘Our €200 mln green facility will contribute to the funding of the development at our Wilton Park estate. This 600,000 sq. ft. (55,741 m2) development, which has been fully pre-let to LinkedIn, will bring true placemaking to the city centre while providing the space for significant job creation, reinforcing Dublin’s position as a global digital hub.’
Wilton Park
IPUT's landmark Wilton Park development is due to complete in 2023. It will deliver over 600,000 sq. ft. (55,741 m2) of mixed-use space. It includes 580,000 sq. ft. (53,884 m2) of grade A office space which has been entirely pre-let to LinkedIn in what was the outstanding letting in the Dublin market in 2019.
