St. Modwen Properties PLC ST. MODWEN COMPLETES £475M REFINANCING (7126Z)
December 19 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSMP
RNS Number : 7126Z
St. Modwen Properties PLC
19 December 2017
19 December 2017
ST. MODWEN PROPERTIES PLC
("St. Modwen" or the "Company")
ST. MODWEN SUCCESSFULLY REFINANCES WITH GBP475M OF UNSECURED
DEBT FACILITIES
St. Modwen Properties PLC (LSE: SMP) today announces a
successful refinancing with a new GBP475m unsecured revolving
credit facility ("RCF") with an initial maturity of five years
which can be extended to a maximum of seven years, subject to
lender consent. The unsecured RCF replaces GBP488m of current
bilateral secured debt facilities.
In line with St. Modwen's strategic plans, the refinancing
provides a reduced cost of debt and improved operational
flexibility. Transitioning to unsecured debt financing provides the
Company with added flexibility to extend further its debt maturity
profile and diversify its sources of unsecured finance ahead of the
maturities of its GBP100m convertible bond and GBP80m retail bond
in March and November 2019 respectively.
As part of the transaction, the Company has cancelled interest
rate swaps at a cash cost of c. GBP6m on completion which will
result in initial annual savings of c. GBP2.5m. A non-cash expense
of an estimated GBP4m will be recognised in the first half of the
Company's 2018 financial year in respect of capitalised arrangement
fees relating to the previous facilities.
Based on drawn Group net debt of c. GBP440m (as at 30 November
2017), St. Modwen's pro forma all in cost of debt will reduce by
50bps from 4.2% to 3.7%. Debt maturity will increase from 2.7 years
to 4.1 years (or 5.5 years if the two one-year extensions are
applied), with options to increase this in the future through
further unsecured funding.
The syndicate of lenders for the new facility consists of the
Company's existing banking group, being Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC
Bank Plc, National Westminster Bank plc and Santander UK plc, in
addition to the introduction of AIB Group (UK) p.l.c. St. Modwen
was advised on the refinancing by Rothschild & Co.
Rob Hudson, Chief Financial Officer, St. Modwen, commented:
"This refinancing represents a key achievement that is in line with
our strategic priorities of portfolio focus and capital discipline.
The successful transition to an unsecured debt structure will
provide us with a greater level of financial and operational
flexibility to implement our intended business plan at a lower
overall cost of finance."
LEI number: 213800WMV4WVES8TQH05
-ENDS-
ENQUIRIES:
St. Modwen Properties PLC Tel: 0121 222 9400
Mark Allan, Chief Executive www.stmodwen.co.uk
Rob Hudson, Chief Financial Officer
Kathryn Edwards, Interim Head of Corporate Communications
FTI Consulting Tel: 020 3727 1000
Dido Laurimore/ Tom Gough/ Ellie Sweeney stmodwen@fticonsulting.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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