Hammerson launched a €500 million bond (UK)

Hammerson plc announces the successful launch and pricing of an eight year, €500 million bond maturing 2022. The bond was priced at 90 basis points over the mid swap rate and has an annual coupon of 2.0%. The issue was over five times oversubscribed.
This transaction is in line with the Group’s objectives to manage down the weighted average cost of debt and extend the duration of liabilities. The very low coupon on the new bonds will help reduce future interest expense as legacy bonds mature. Following this new issue the overall loan to value ratio of the Group will be in line with our previously stated guidelines.
Hammerson is rated Baa2 (positive outlook) by Moodys and A- (stable) by Fitch. Deutsche Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, BNP Paribas, Lloyds Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities and Santander GBM acted as joint bookrunners.
Timon Drakesmith, CFO of Hammerson, said: “Market conditions for new debt offerings are favourable at present and we are appreciative of the strong support from our investors for this transaction. We believe the 2% per annum coupon is the lowest ever for a fixed rate public bond issue from a UK property company.”
Source: Hammerson