Central London-focused REIT Shaftesbury Capital has signed a £300 mln (€350 mln) unsecured loan agreement with an initial maturity of three years, with the option to extend the tenor by a further two periods of one year each, subject to lender approval.
The proceeds of the facility, combined with the existing cash resources of the company, will be used to repay the remaining balance (£376 mln) of an existing unsecured loan.
This loan was arranged at the time of Shaftesbury merger with Capital & Counties in the spring, and drawn in April 2023 to fund the repayment of the Shaftesbury secured bonds.
Situl Jobanputra, chief financial officer of Shaftesbury Capital, commented: 'We are pleased to have completed the early refinancing of the £576 mln loan through this facility and other initiatives this year, which highlight the attractiveness of our exceptional portfolio and further enhance our capital structure.'
The unsecured loan is due to mature in 2024. As announced in the firm's trading update on 27 November, cash balances at 30 September, adjusted for recent asset sales, were approximately £200 mln and the Covent Garden revolving credit facility of £300 mln is undrawn.
The facility comprises term loan and revolving credit elements, which will provide the company with the flexibility to manage the level of drawn debt, liquidity and finance costs, Shaftesbury said.
The facility includes a £125 mln uncommitted accordion feature which may allow the company to increase the total revolving facility commitments.
As a result of the refinancing, the weighted average maturity of the company’s drawn debt will be extended to over 5 years. The current weighted average cost of debt is unchanged at 4.2%, which reduces to an effective cash cost of
3.3%.
The facility was provided by Santander UK, HSBC UK Bank and BNP Paribas, London branch. The company was advised on the facility by Rothschild & Co and Herbert Smith Freehills.
