Refinancing at Covent Garden

RNS Number : 6537R

Capital & Counties Properties Plc

08 November 2011

 



8 November 2011

Capital & Counties Properties PLC refinances at Covent Garden

Capital & Counties Properties PLC ("Capco") is pleased to announce a new £300m debt facility to refinance its 2013 Covent Garden loan. The refinancing includes £60m of debt capital for acquisitions to allow Capco to further its repositioning strategy in the area and is led by BNP Paribas and HSBC Bank plc along with a further consortium of lenders.

Capco currently has over 830,000 sq ft of retail, leisure, residential and office holdings in Covent Garden, including the Market Building and is continuing to extract value through its proactive asset management strategy and repositioning of the neighbourhood.  Following the recent opening of Rugby Ralph Lauren and several new lettings in the pipeline, the estate remains on track to meet its 2013 ERV target of £50m, a demonstration of Capco's successful strategy of unlocking value in Covent Garden.  

The new facility was comfortably oversubscribed, and the consortium of lenders includes BNP Paribas, HSBC Bank plc, Bayern LB, Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Santander. Key features of the new loan are:

·     Extends the maturity on £300 million of the Group's debt until October 2016, with a further 2 year extension available at Capco's option subject to meeting certain financial covenants

·     £150 million has been drawn initially. A further £90 million is available allowing Capco to use its cash balance more efficiently by paying down debt and redrawing when required

·     In addition, £60 million of the facility is available to finance existing Covent Garden assets not currently secured, or to finance new acquisitions in the Covent Garden area

·     The financial covenants include a loan-to-value covenant of 70 per cent and interest cover ratio of 130 per cent

The cost of debt on the new facilities will be circa 4 per cent on the drawn amount, with hedging in place using swaps and caps. Interest rate swaps relating to the previous facility have been closed out at a cost of £13.5 million.

Soumen Das, Finance Director of Capco commented, "This new debt facility allows us the flexibility to manage and add value to our exciting and growing portfolio at Covent Garden. It supports our strategic plans to consolidate the ownership in this vibrant part of London through selective acquisition - building on one of London's great estates."

Peter Denton, head of UK real estate finance at BNP Paribas and Matt Webster, Global Head of Real Estate Finance at HSBC Bank plc jointly commented: "Capco is a perfect example of the sort of company that bank partners wish to work with.  It's an exciting company with prime central London assets, focused on Covent Garden and Earls Court, and we are pleased to support a genuine player in the industry with such a growth strategy. "

-Ends-

Enquiries

Capital & Counties Properties PLC

Ian Hawksworth                               Chief Executive                                [phone]

Soumen Das                                       Finance Director                              [phone]

Public relations

UK: Michael Sandler/Wendy Baker, Hudson Sandler                       [phone]

SA: Nicholas Williams, College Hill Associates                                   [phone]

About Capital & Counties Properties PLC (Capco)

Capco is one of the largest investment and development property companies that specialises in central London real estate and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Capco holds 3.2 million square feet of assets valued at £1.5 billion (30 June 2011) in three landmark London estates: Covent Garden, which has assets valued at £780 million, including the historic Market Building; Earls Court & Olympia Group and 50 per cent of the Empress State building in Earls Court amounting to aggregate property assets of £488 million, and The Great Capital Partnership, a joint venture with Great Portland Estates, which holds prime West End properties of which Capco's share is £240 million. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the JSE, Johannesburg.

www.capitalandcounties.com

 

END

 

 

MSCBCBDBUGGBGBR