Legal & General (L&G) has agreed a new £102 mln (€117 mln), 15-year debt facility to the UK housing association Hyde Group, representing its first loan to the sector.
Legal & General (L&G) has agreed a new £102 mln (€117 mln), 15-year debt facility to the UK housing association Hyde Group, representing its first loan to the sector.
The deal is structured as separate loan agreements to two of Hyde's core subsidiaries, Hyde Southbank Homes (HSH) and Hillside Housing Trust (Hillside), providing £61 mln and £41 mln respectively. The loans are non-recourse to Hyde and at a fixed rate for their duration.
The loan marks the entrance of L&G's commercial lending business into the social housing sector. L&G announced its intention to do so last year and subsequently hired specialist, Alex Gipson, from RBS, as well as additional resourcing in the credit team at the start of 2013, to support this process.
'L&G believes it can fill the gap left in the market for associations that want to borrow smaller amounts by providing bilateral loans, down to as low as £25 mln,' the company said in a statement.
Hyde was advised by LCF Edmond de Rothschild Securities, the London corporate finance arm of the Edmond de Rothschild Group.
