Derwent London announces that it has entered into £105 million of new unsecured fixed rate private placement funding with 12 and 15 year maturities.
The issue is in two tranches, both of which will be drawn on 4 May 2016: £30 million 3.46% Senior Notes due 4 May 2028 and £75 million 3.57% Senior Notes due 4 May 2031 (the “Notes”). The Notes were placed with three institutional investors all of whom are new lending relationships for the Group.
The debt issue was priced on 4 February 2016 and the note purchase agreement was signed on 19 February 2016. The funds will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance existing Group indebtedness. As a result, the Group’s total facilities will increase to £1.266bn. The financial covenants are the same as the Group’s other unsecured facilities, including its £100 million US private placement notes arranged in November 2013.
Damian Wisniewski, Finance Director of Derwent London, commented:
"We are delighted to welcome three new funding relationships to our pool of lenders and extend our available facilities by £105 million. With a December 2015 loan-to-value ratio of just under 18% and a strong increase in earnings cover during 2015, the Group is well placed to fund its pipeline of value-enhancing projects and to continue growing earnings. When drawn in May, this long-term debt will also increase the Group’s weighted average maturity of borrowings by about 12 months.”