Capco agrees ?70m RCF with BNP Paribas and HSBC

RNS Number : 3069D

Capital & Counties Properties Plc

15 May 2012

 



15 May 2012

CAPITAL & COUNTIES PROPERTIES PLC

CAPCO AGREES £70 MILLION REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY

WITH BNP PARIBAS AND HSBC

Capital & Counties Properties PLC ("Capco") has agreed a new five year £70 million revolving credit facility ("RCF") with BNP Paribas and HSBC Bank plc, secured on certain assets at Covent Garden. The facility is Capco's first RCF and establishes a more flexible financing structure.

Capco has over 830,000 sq ft of assets in Covent Garden, predominantly focused in retail and dining. The Covent Garden estate represents 50 per cent of Capco's gross assets. Its other assets include the Earls Court exhibition centres where Capco has submitted outline planning applications for the redevelopment of a 77 acre site for Sir Terry Farrell's Masterplan for the Earls Court & West Kensington Opportunity Area, as well as the Olympia Exhibition Centre. Recently the 7.5 acre Seagrave Road site, to create 808 new homes and a new London garden square, was granted planning consent by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. Capco also has assets in the West End through its Great Capital Partnership, a joint venture with Great Portland Estates.

Capco's Finance Director, Soumen Das commented: "I am pleased to have secured this new £70 million facility from our relationship banks alongside the £300 million refinancing last year. It highlights Capco's access to debt finance and the attractiveness of our Covent Garden estate. The maturity profile of the group's debt has now been significantly extended, and the revolving and undrawn facilities will allow Capco to manage its liquidity more efficiently."

BNP Paribas's Romain Simon and Matthew Webster, Head of Real Estate Finance at HSBC Bank plc, commented: "This credit arrangement follows on from November's secured facility of £300 million and demonstrates our continued support for Capco. The Covent Garden assets have a strong track record and the company has exciting opportunities for growth going forward."

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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 3.3 million square feet of assets valued at £1.6 billion (31 December 2011) in three landmark London estates: Covent Garden, which has assets valued at £808 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 £574 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 £241 million. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the JSE, Johannesburg.

www.capitalandcounties.com

 

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