NewRiver REIT arranges £430m in unsecured debt facilities

Property investor, NewRiver REIT, announced Monday it had successfully arranged £430m of new unsecured debt facilities in an effort to refinance at a reduced cost and at longer maturities.

The new facilities include a £165m term loan and a £215m revolving credit facility with an initial maturity of five years, which can be extended to seven, subject to lender approval.

The remaining £50m comes in the form of a term loan with a maturity of 18 months.

NewRiver's new unsecured facilities had a margin of 185 basis points and replaced £414m of secured facilities.

Both terms loans had already been drawn and the remaining £215m under the RCF would be utilised in the futures, the company said in a statement.

Mark Davies, chief financial officer said, "This unsecured refinancing marks a significant milestone for the Company, and further demonstrates the benefits of our conservative financial policies, low financial gearing and increased scale."

The funding comes from a syndicate that includes Barclays Bank, HSBC Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander UK, and was advised on the financing that will reduce its cost of debt to below 3%, from 3.5% as of March 31 by Rothschild & Co.

"We remain focused on delivering growing and sustainable cash returns to our shareholders, and this refinancing further enhances our already efficient operating platform. Importantly, we have been able to achieve all of this with minimal breakage costs and by utilising the strong banking relationships we have established over many years," said Davies.

As of 0910 BST, shares in NewRiver REIT were relatively stable, up 1.35% to 344.60p