2nd Feb 2005 12:35
2 February 2005 LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLC REFINANCING OF ‚£730 MILLION NON-RECOURSE LOAN SECURED ON METROCENTRE, GATESHEAD, AND BRAEHEAD, RENFREW, GLASGOW, WITH A NEW ‚£600 MILLION FACILITY SECURED ON METROCENTRE ALONE Liberty International PLC, through its wholly owned subsidiary, CapitalShopping Centres PLC ("CSC"), has refinanced the current ‚£730 millionnon-recourse term and revolving loan originally secured on CSC's two regionalshopping centres, MetroCentre, Gateshead, and Braehead, Renfrew, Glasgow, witha new ‚£600 million non-recourse 10 year term loan facility secured solely onMetroCentre.The new loan comprises ‚£600 million by way of term finance from Eurohypo, thespecialist commercial real estate bank, via its conduit vehicle, Opera Finance(MetroCentre) plc. Opera's participation is being funded through the issue of ‚£600 million of floating-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). Thetransaction follows the structure used for the ‚£650m refinancing of Lakeside,Thurrock, CSC's flagship regional shopping centre, in August 2004 and enablesLiberty International to again obtain capital market debt pricing whileretaining the flexibility of a bank loan. RBS and UBS acted as jointbookrunners on the issue.The refinancing of the MetroCentre, Gateshead, continues LibertyInternational's programme of raising long-term asset-backed non-recoursefinance. The ‚£600m raised will be used to repay the ‚£535m loan outstandingunder the existing facility. Liberty International is retaining the ‚£68m BBBtranche of bonds, which it may use to raise further funds through sales in thesecondary CMBS market in the future. The loan has been refinanced at a blendedmargin of around 0.24 per cent over LIBOR before costs, resulting in a netsaving to Liberty International estimated at around ‚£4 million per annum andBraehead becoming free of debt.The structure of the loan continues to provide CSC with full flexibility toimplement its active management approach at MetroCentre.Donald Gordon, Chairman of Liberty International, commented:"We are very pleased to have worked with Eurohypo again as arranger, and withRBS and UBS as joint bookrunners, on this refinancing of the MetroCentre,Gateshead, which is Europe's largest covered shopping centre. Demand is strongin the capital markets for highly-rated debt securities backed by premiumassets such as our regional shopping centres and using Eurohypo's CMBS fundedloan structure has enabled us to access the attractive costs of financingavailable through these markets. The refinancing of MetroCentre, Gateshead, hasprovided us with a reduction in our financing costs of around ‚£4 million perannum, as well as leaving us in the attractive position of having Braehead freefrom debt as it moves into its first rent review cycle."Enquiries:Aidan Smith, Finance Director, Liberty International +44 (0)20 7960 1210 PLC Peter Badcock, Director, Capital Shopping Centres +44 (0)20 7887 7069 PLC Additional notes on Liberty International PLC group for information:Liberty International PLC is the UK's third largest listed property company anda constituent of the FTSE-100 Index of the UK's leading listed companies.Liberty International owns 100 per cent of Capital Shopping Centres, thepremier UK regional shopping centre business, and Capital & Counties, acommercial and retail property investment and development company concentratingin Central London, South East England and California, USA.MetroCentre, Gateshead, (1.8 million sq.ft.) is Europe's largest coveredregional shopping and leisure centre, with 335 shops and stores and a varietyof leisure attractions. In October 2004, the new ‚£85m Red Mall extension wasopened, fully let and providing a new department store for Debenhams, 28 newshop units, an 1100 space car park and a new bus station.Braehead, Phase 1 of which opened 5 years ago in September 1999, offers 1.06million sq.ft. of retail and leisure with 117 shops and stores, a 4000 seatarena and skating and curling rinks. A 300,000 sq.ft. IKEA occupies an adjacentsite. Phase 2 amounts to some 165 acres and involves substantial furtherregeneration activity including some 1,350 new homes, a riverside park andwalkway, and Xscape, a leisure scheme providing Scotland's first indoor realsnow ski slope, a multiplex cinema, bowling and restaurants scheduled to openin 2006. There is also planning consent for some 750,000 sq.ft. of officespace. Work has started on the first residential development and on the Xscapecomplex.ENDRelated Shares:
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