British Land announces that it has closed and drawn funds on a US $480 million (approx. 345 million) US private placement bond issue, the largest US private placement transaction by a UK Real Estate Investment Trust.
The placement, originally launched at US $200 million, was three times oversubscribed with British Land subsequently choosing to increase the issue to US $480 million. The range of maturities is between seven and 15 years, and there are 12 investors.
The financing has an average life of over 11 years and was swapped to £300 million at an average floating rate of 146 basis points over LIBOR.
British Land took bids and priced the placement on June 22, signed on August 3, and closed and drew funds on September 1. After drawing funds and repaying revolving bank facilities, the Group's weighted average debt maturity and interest rate, including share of JV and fund debt, is 9.7 years and 4.8%, respectively.
Together with the £560 million syndicated bank financing agreed earlier in the year, the Group has raised £860 million since May 2011.
RBS and HSBC acted as joint agents and hedge coordinators, and Lloyds provided hedge underwriting and syndication.
Lucinda Bell, Finance Director of British Land, said: "This financing, together with the £560 million syndicated bank facility earlier in the year, builds on our strong liquidity position and demonstrates our ability to access funding on attractive terms from a range of sources.
"We are delighted by the level of demand for the placement, reflecting our scale, high quality portfolio and strong balance sheet."
Source: British Land
