£150 million Debt Financing Facility

RNS Number : 4706G

Life Science REIT PLC

30 March 2022

 

30 March 2022

LEI: 213800RG7JNX7K8F7525

Life Science REIT plc

("Life Science REIT" or the "Company")

£150 million Debt Financing Facility

Life Science REIT (AIM: LABS), the real estate investment trust focused on UK life science properties, is pleased to announce that it has agreed a £150 million debt financing facility (the "Debt Facility") with HSBC UK Bank PLC, comprising a £75 million three year term loan facility and an equally sized revolving credit facility. This is the Company's first debt facility.

This Debt Facility has an interest rate in respect of drawn amounts of 225 basis points over SONIA which is currently equivalent to a total cost of 2.9%. The Debt Facility is currently undrawn but gives the Company additional financial resources as it continues to deliver its strategy of acquiring high quality, life science properties across the Golden Triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London.

The Debt Facility is secured on the properties already acquired by the Company since IPO, with market normal covenants on loan to value ("LTV") and interest cover. The borrowing structure allows the Company to flexibly add new properties to the security pool to reach the Company's optimal gearing target as it acquires new assets.

Simon Farnsworth, Managing Director of Ironstone Asset Management, the Company's Investment Adviser, commented:

"The Company has a prudent approach to gearing and is targeting a LTV ratio of 30%-40% over the longer term. The Debt Facility announced today provides us with the flexibility to improve the efficiency of our balance sheet as we continue to make significant progress on a number of acquisition opportunities whilst also enhancing our financial resources."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Ironstone Asset Management - Investment Adviser
Simon Farnsworth	via Buchanan below
Panmure Gordon - Nominated Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker	[phone]
Atholl Tweedie / Sapna Shah / Philip Shields / Chloe Ponsonby
Jefferies International Limited - Joint Corporate Broker	[phone]
Tom Yeadon / Andrew Morris / Oliver Nott
Buchanan - Financial PR	[phone]
Mark Court / Henry Wilson / Verity Parker [e-mail]

Notes to editors

Life Science REIT plc is a property business focused solely on the UK's growing life science sector, specifically targeting opportunities in the "Golden Triangle" research and development hubs of Oxford, Cambridge and London St Pancras. The Company's intention is to become the property provider of choice for life science companies in the UK, whilst enabling shareholders to gain exposure to a specific growth sector. 

The objective of the Company's investment policy is focused on capital growth, whilst also providing a growing level of income, by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of properties that are leased, or intended to be leased, to occupiers operating in the life science sector in the UK. 

Life Science REIT joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 19 November 2021, having raised £350 million in its IPO. Its shares trade under the ticker LABS.

Further information is available at https://lifesciencereit.co.uk

 

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