REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY EXTENDED TO £130 MILLION

RNS Number : 3907R

Triple Point Social Housing REIT

29 October 2019

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO CONTAIN INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014.

29 October 2019

Triple Point Social Housing REIT plc

(the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY EXTENDED TO £130 MILLION

The Board of Triple Point Social Housing REIT plc (ticker: SOHO) is pleased to announce that the Group has secured a £60 million extension to its existing £70 million Revolving Credit Facility previously provided exclusively by Lloyds Bank plc (the "RCF"). As part of the extension, National Westminster Bank plc ("NatWest") will provide debt alongside Lloyds Bank plc and on identical terms. The Group now has the ability to draw a total of up to £130 million under the RCF.    

The initial four year term of the RCF remains unchanged and expires on 20 December 2022 and, subject to lender approval, may be extended by a further two years to 20 December 2024. The interest rate in respect of drawn amounts under the RCF is 1.85 per cent per annum over 3 month LIBOR and the debt is provided on a non-recourse basis to the Company.

When fully drawn, the RCF will represent a loan-to-value ("LTV") of 40 per cent secured against a defined portfolio of the Group's specialist supported housing assets located throughout the UK and held in a wholly owned Group subsidiary.

Triple Point Investment Management LLP, the Group's Delegated Investment Manager, continues to identify attractive investment opportunities for the Company's portfolio. The extension of the RCF will provide the Group with additional committed capital at an attractive margin, to help finance the acquisition of supported housing assets from its pipeline.

The extension of the Group's RCF represents the Group's third debt raise since inception in 2017. The Group targets a long term level of aggregate borrowings equal to 40 per cent of the Group's gross asset value, subject to a limit of 50 per cent (calculated at the time of draw down). As at 30 June 2019, the aggregate borrowings drawn represented 21 per cent of the Group's gross asset value.

Chris Phillips, Chairman of Triple Point Social Housing REIT plc, said:

"We are delighted that NatWest has joined Lloyds as a new lender through the RCF. Securing an additional £60 million of debt capital whilst retaining the original, competitive terms of the RCF provides the Group with the highest degree of flexibility for its deployment programme over the next six to nine months. We are pleased to welcome NatWest as a new counterparty into our lending group and value both lenders' continued support of the UK social housing sector."

Gowling WLG acted as legal adviser to the Group.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY, PLEASE CONTACT:

Triple Point Investment Management LLP (Delegated Investment Manager)	Tel: [phone]
James Cranmer
Ben Beaton
Max Shenkman
Justin Hubble
Akur Limited (Joint Financial Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
Tom Frost
Anthony Richardson
Siobhan Sergeant
Investec Bank plc (Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Lucy Lewis
Denis Flanagan
Tom Skinner

The Company's LEI is 213800BERVBS2HFTBC58.

Further information on the Company can be found on its website at www.triplepointreit.com.

NOTES:

The Company invests in primarily newly developed social housing assets in the UK, with a particular focus on supported housing. The assets within the portfolio are subject to inflation-adjusted, long-term (typically from 20 years to 30 years), Fully Repairing and Insuring ("FRI") leases with Approved Providers (being Housing Associations, Local Authorities or other regulated organisations in receipt of direct payment from local government). The portfolio comprises investments into properties which are already subject to an FRI lease with an Approved Provider, as well as forward funding of pre-let developments but does not include any direct development or speculative development.

There is increasing political and financial pressure on Housing Associations to increase their housing delivery and this is creating opportunities for private sector investors to participate in the market. The Group's ability to provide forward financing for new developments not only enables the Company to secure fit for purpose, modern assets for its portfolio but also addresses the chronic undersupply of suitable supported housing properties in the UK at sustainable rents as well as delivering returns to investors.

Triple Point Investment Management LLP (part of the Triple Point Group) is responsible for management of the Group's portfolio (with such functions having been delegated to it by Langham Hall Fund Management LLP, the Company's alternative investment fund manager).

The Company was admitted to trading on the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 8 August 2017 and was admitted to the premium segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and migrated to trading on the premium segment of the Main Market on 27 March 2018. The Company operates as a UK Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT") and is a constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT index.

 

END

 

 

MSCMPBPTMBTTBPL