Klépierre has become the second heavyweight European shopping centre owner to tap the bond market for cheap financing in recent days.
Klépierre has become the second heavyweight European shopping centre owner to tap the bond market for cheap financing in recent days.
The Euronext-listed company announced on Thursday that it had issued an eight-year, €750 mln bond maturing on 17 April 2023.
The bond was priced at 65 basis points above the swap rate which translates into a coupon of 1.0%.
Oversubscribed 4.5 times, the notes were placed with long-term pan-European investors. Interest was strong from fund managers, insurers, banks and pension funds. Investors from France, the UK and Germany represented two-thirds of the allocated book, Klépierre said.
Simultaneously, Klépierre launched a cash tender offer on a €500 mln bond issued by Netherlands-based European shopping centre owner Corio. The offer period is expected to end on 16 April.
Klépierre completed its takeover of Corio at end-March. 'These transactions aim at optimising the debt profile of the group while reducing its cost of funding,' Klépierre said in a statement.
The combined group manages a European shopping centre portfolio valued at over €21 bn.
Unibail-Rodamco
On 8 April Unibail-Rodamco, the largest listed shopping centre owner in Europe, launched a €500 mln convertible bond issue.
The new Ornanes non-interest-bearing bonds will be issued at 100.5% of par value and mature on 1 January 2022. The par value represents a premium of between 27.5% and 35% over the company’s listed share price on the Euronext index.
The first bonds are being offered privately prior to a public offer in France between 9 April and 13 April.
The company said the transactions are part of its strategy to diversify its financing sources and extend the debt maturity for the group. In particular, the proceeds will enable the financing of all or part of the repurchase of €750 mln of Ornanes bonds issued in 2012.
Paris-listed Unibail-Rodamco is also proposing two €500 mln bond issues: a euro-denominated 10-year green bond, due in March 2025, and a euro-denominated 15-year bond due in April 2030, subject to market conditions.
Unibail-Rodamco has over €34 bn of real estate under management, consisting of over 70 prime shopping centre in large European cities, as well as office buildings and convention centres in Paris.