17th Apr 2026 10:24
(Alliance News) - NewRiver REIT PLC on Friday said it has agreed a new GBP240 million unsecured facility.
The London-based real estate investment trust focused on retail and leisure properties said the facility comprises of a GBP120 million term facility commitment and a GBP120 million revolving credit facility.
"The new facility achieves NewRiver's aims to extract maximum benefit from its current debt structure while improving its debt maturity profile and ultimately allows the company to return to a fully unsecured debt structure once the term facility commitment is drawn," the firm said.
NewRiver noted that all four existing lenders have increased their commitments.
The term facility commitment matures in April 2030, with an option to extend by three additional one-year terms to April 2033, subject to lender approval.
It has a margin of 190 basis points at the current loan-to-value level. It is available to be drawn until the end of January 2027 and will be used to refinance the secured GBP140 million mall facility.
The mall facility was retained in December 2024 due to its "attractive" 3.5% coupon, which runs until January 2027.
After that date, it would revert to a floating rate with a higher margin than the term facility commitment.
NewRiver said delaying drawdown of the term facility commitment until January 2027 allows it to extract "maximum value" from the 3.5% coupon.
Before drawing the term facility commitment, NewRiver will pay a commitment fee, which it expects to cost GBP600,000 in financial 2027. This compares to GBP2.0 million over the same period if the facility were to be drawn immediately.
The revolving credit facility will mature in April 2031, and has an option to extend by two further one-year terms. It has a margin of 175 basis points at the current loan-to-value level, and marks a "significant" reduction versus the existing revolving credit facility.
The new facility is GBP20 million larger than the one it replaces, and extends the maturity from November 2026.
"With the first phase of our refinancing complete, we're now focused on our growth agenda. We have the balance sheet, the platform and the pipeline to continue deploying capital where our origination strengths and operational expertise create value for shareholders," said Chief Financial Officer Will Hobman.
"The next stage of our refinancing will focus on our GBP300 million unsecured corporate bond, which matures in March 2028. With over GBP200 million of cash and available liquidity and an improved maturity profile, we are well placed to manage that process from a position of strength."
Shares in NewRiver REIT were down slightly at 74.87 pence on Friday morning in London.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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