Shaftesbury Carnaby, a subsidiary of London-listed property company Shaftesbury, has issued £285 mln (€317 mln) of guaranteed first mortgage bonds with a coupon of 2.487%, maturing in September 2031.
The bonds are secured on properties held by Shaftesbury Carnaby and benefit from an unsecured guarantee from the company. They have been admitted for trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange as of 10 October.
The net proceeds of the issue of the bonds, after deducting the redemption cost and expenses, amounted to approximately £189.4 mln.
Shaftesbury said that the issue significantly increased its financial resources for further investment in its portfolio, whilst lengthening the company's weighted average debt maturity to 10.8 years.
On issue of the bonds, the company's existing first mortgage debenture stock due 2024, totalling around £61 mln, was redeemed in full.
'We are pleased to have completed this refinancing of our existing debenture stock. Long-term finance is a natural fit with our long-term business model and portfolio of good quality assets in London's West End, which produce a resilient, and growing, income stream,' commented Chris Ward, Shaftesbury's finance director.
'At a historically low coupon, the issue has reduced our cost of debt. As well as raising significant resources for further investment in our portfolio, it has diversified our sources of funding and extended our weighted average debt maturity,' Ward added.
IDCM Limited and Lloyds Bank plc acted as managers for the bond issue.
