Société de la Tour Eiffel secures major refinancing of €120 million credit line (FR)

Société de la Tour Eiffel (STE) has concluded with a German bank the refinancing of the €116.9 million credit line which was put into place by RBS at the outset of STE as a SIIC in 2004.

This new, mortgage-backed finance comprises eight individual amortizable loans to SPVs for a seven-year term at a competitive rate. The overall cost of funds is less than the previous loan, whereas the LTV of 52% reflects the deleveraging achievements of the group.

The subject portfolio comprises eight properties, five being in the Paris region, with three others located in Caen, Sochaux and Grenoble. All are recent or renovated, offering a total floor area of 116,000 m². They are fully leased, in the main to large quoted (CAC 40) companies and an administration.

"As intimated at the outset of the year, we have completed refinancing one of our principal credit lines a year prior to its maturity on a satisfactory basis, underlining the credibility of our business model and the quality of the portfolio.

"We anticipate that this refinancing will prove a positive precursor to the successful outcome of current negotiations in relation to the second major loan maturity due in 2013. We have various active discussions in hand aimed at the deleveraging of the balance sheet," states company Chairman, Mark Inch, who duly praised the contribution of the company's asset management team led by Jérôme Descamps and Frédéric Maman.

Final 2011 dividend by scrip issue
The company also announces that it recently increased its capital by €6 million as a result of the scrip issue corresponding to 50% of shareholders taking their final 2011 dividend in shares. The corresponding creation of new shares was 183,416, increasing the total number to 5,919,688.

Source: Société de la Tour Eiffel

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