Capital & Regional plc
18 September 2006
18 September 2006
CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC:
THE MALL FUND REFINANCES THROUGH COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE
BACKED SECURITIES IN £375M TAP ISSUE
Capital & Regional plc, the co-investing property asset manager, today announces
that The Mall Fund has decided to refinance some of its revolving bank
facilities by issuing commercial mortgage backed securities.
In May 2005, the Mall issued £1.06bn AAA rated Mall Bonds*. On behalf of the
Mall Fund, Morley and C&R, advised by Credit Suisse, have recently been working
together to tap the capital markets for an additional £375m. A further 3
properties will be included in the security package, further enhancing the
strength of the credit. The issue will be used to repay part of a revolving
credit facility which remains in place to fund capital expenditure or further
acquisitions.
Commenting on the refinancing, Ken Ford, Chief Executive of the Mall, said:
"The financing put in place in May 2005 is working exactly as it should. The
CMBS issue provides very low cost finance, while the revolving credit facilities
accommodate the business' need for operational flexibility."
Julius Gottlieb, Finance Director of Property at Morley Fund Management said:
"This is a significant financing deal for The Mall Fund and its investors. By
refinancing the existing bank debt using commercial mortgage backed securities
we have again been able to significantly reduce the cost of debt within the fund
and thereby increase returns to investors. The high quality of assets within
the Fund provides an AAA credit rating for the securitisation."
The benefits for the Mall and its investors are expected to be:
• Additional returns to Mall investors due to reduced interest costs;
• Flexibility to allow the fund to exploit asset management
opportunities;
• Extra protection against future interest rate movements;
• A Revolving Credit Facility which is still available to support the
growth of The Mall business;
The Mall Fund was established by clients of Morley and Capital & Regional in
2002 and since then has grown to over £3 billion in size with 23 shopping
centres in its portfolio.
The MallBonds are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
*The AAA rating was awarded by S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
- Ends -
Notes to editors:
About Capital & Regional plc
Capital & Regional is the co-investing asset manager which specialises in town
centre shopping centres, out of town retail parks, and urban entertainment
complexes.
Capital & Regional founded the Mall and Junction Funds in conjunction with
Morley Fund Management. It also founded the X-Leisure fund with Hermes
Investment Management Limited, and has a number of other joint ventures and
developments. Its shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
For further information visit: www.capreg.com
About The Mall
The Mall is the leading owner and operator of community shopping centres in the
UK. The Mall has assets of £3.025 billion in 23 shopping centres and has plans
to grow assets to 30 centres, establishing The Mall as the UK's community
shopping centre brand. The Mall Fund is a specialist property fund managed by
Capital & Regional and Morley Fund Management.
For further information, visit: www.themall.co.uk
About Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management Limited is the UK-based asset management business of
Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage £157bn from
offices around the world as at 30 June 2006. The property team manages in
excess of £23bn of UK and European property assets, making Morley the largest
property fund manager in Europe.
The property team consists of 70 investment professionals and manages a range of
funds on behalf of institutional, pension and retail clients. Morley has been at
the forefront of innovation in property fund management and has launched eleven
specialist sector based funds with partners, including: Igloo Regeneration Fund,
Quercus Healthcare Property, The Junction and The Mall.
For further information, visit: www.morleyfm.com or www.morleyproperty.com
- ENDS -
For further information:
Capital & Regional:
William Sunnucks, Group Finance Director Tel. 020 7932 8101
Hudson Sandler
Michael Sandler Tel: 020 7796 4133
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
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