Europe's largest listed real estate company Unibail-Rodamco has raised €1 bn from the placement of two €500 mln bonds.
The Paris-listed retail group said it took advantage of improving market conditions to issue a €500 mln, 12-year bond with a 1.5% fixed coupon and a €500 mln, 20-year bond with a 2.0% fixed coupon.
The total demand for the two bonds reached €2.7 bn.
Unibail-Rodamco said the net proceeds from the bonds will be used for ‘general corporate purposes’ and will further extend its debt maturity profile.
In 2016, Unibail-Rodamco’s average cost of debt reached an all-time low of 1.6% - down 60 basis points from 2.2% in 2015 as the average maturity was extended to a record seven years (6.5 years as at end-2015). The group saw its loan-to-value ratio decline further to 33% (35% as at end-2015).
During the year, the Paris-listed giant raised €3.7 bn of medium- to long-term funds in the bond and bank markets and issued the first-ever public 20-year bond for a real-estate company, the longest maturity ever achieved in the sector on the euro market. It also issued an 8-year 3-month euro bond with the lowest coupon ever achieved by the group of 0.875%.
Unibail-Rodamco is active in 11 EU countries and had a portfolio of assets valued at €40.5 bn as of end-December 2016.
