Tritax Big Box REIT plc NEW £500 MILLION SECURED DEBT FACILITY AGREED (0073B)

TIDMBBOX

RNS Number : 0073B

Tritax Big Box REIT plc

02 October 2015

2 October 2015

TRITAX BIG BOX REIT PLC

(the "Company" or "Group")

NEW GBP500 MILLION SECURED DEBT FACILITY AGREED

The Board of Tritax Big Box REIT plc (ticker: BBOX) is pleased to announce that the Company has agreed a new five year GBP500 million secured debt facility (the "Facility") with a syndicate of four lenders.

The Facility comprises a GBP320 million Term Loan which will be drawn in full immediately, a further GBP80 million Term Loan available to draw up until the first anniversary of the Facility, and a GBP100 million Revolving Credit Facility which includes a GBP10 million Overdraft component.

The Facility has an opening margin of 1.40% above three-month LIBOR and will reduce the Group's average margin payable on its debt facilities, when fully drawn, from 1.77% to 1.42%.

The Facility will refinance GBP253.34 million of the Group's existing debt currently provided by Barclays Bank PLC and Santander UK plc. The Group's existing loans with Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale, London Branch ("Helaba") will remain outside the Facility and are unaffected.

The drawing of the initial Term Loan will increase the portfolio's loan to value ratio ("LTV") to approximately 35%. When taking into account the funding requirements of the Group's existing commitments, it will be looking to increase the LTV towards the targeted level of 40% in the near term. The Facility extends the Group's average unexpired loan term to five years.

Subject to lender support, the Facility has two, twelve month, extension options exercisable after year one and year two respectively. The Facility can also be increased to GBP700 million, again subject to lender support.

The Company is required to put in place interest rate hedging in respect of a minimum of 75% of aggregate drawn debt under the Facility, which it will look to execute in the near term.

The syndicate for the Facility consists of Barclays Bank PLC, Helaba, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and ING Real Estate Finance (UK) B.V., who also all acted as mandated lead arrangers. Barclays Bank PLC will act as co-ordinator, facility agent, book runner and Security Agent for the Facility.

Colin Godfrey, Partner of Tritax, commented:

"This is a very attractive loan package that will immediately reduce the Group's average cost of borrowing by 35 bps, extend our average unexpired loan term and bring the Group's LTV ratio more in line with the Group's stated medium term target. The Facility will also provide the debt resource needed to support our ongoing growth plans, building upon our strong financial performance.

The Facility offers the Group substantial operational flexibility and includes an option to draw against our current and future forward funded investment assets at the same margin.

We are pleased to be welcoming both Wells Fargo and ING as new lenders to the Group, alongside Barclays and Helaba."

For further information, please contact:

 
  Tritax Group               via Newgate (below) 
    Colin Godfrey (Partner, 
    Fund Manager) 
 
   Newgate (PR Adviser)       Tel: [phone] 
    James Benjamin             Email: [e-mail] 
    Alex Shilov 
 
   Jefferies International    Tel: [phone] 
    Limited 
    Gary Gould 
    Stuart Klein 
    Alex Collins 
 
   Akur Limited               Tel: [phone] 
    Anthony Richardson 
    Tom Frost 
    Siobhan Sergeant 
 

NOTES:

Tritax Big Box REIT plc is a real estate investment trust to which Part 12 of the UK Corporation Tax Act 2010 applies ("REIT"). The Company invests in and asset manages a portfolio of well-located, modern "Big Box" assets, typically targeting buildings greater than 500,000 sq. ft., let to institutional-grade tenants on long-term leases (typically between 12 and 25 years in length) with upward-only rent reviews (providing the potential for inflation linked earnings growth), and with geographic and tenant diversification throughout the UK. The Company seeks to exploit the significant opportunity in this sub-sector of the UK logistics market owing to strong tenant demand in high growth areas of the economy and limited stock supply. The Company is the first listed vehicle to give pure exposure to the "Big Box" asset class in the UK.

Further information on Tritax Big Box REIT is available at www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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October 02, 2015 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)