LAUNCH AND PRICING OF ?185 MILLION USAF BOND

RNS Number : 2740S

Unite Group PLC

05 November 2013

 



Press Release 5 November 2013

THE UNITE GROUP PLC

("UNITE", the "Group", or the "Company")

LAUNCH AND PRICING OF £185 MILLION USAF BOND FINANCING

The UNITE Group plc, the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation, today announces the launch and pricing of £185 million of bonds issued by the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund ("USAF") under its debt funding platform established in June 2013.

USAF is the largest specialist student accommodation fund in the UK, currently holding a portfolio of 62 properties valued at over £1.3 billion which are located in 19 markets across the UK providing over 21,000 bed spaces. UNITE is the largest investor in USAF with a holding of 16%.

The £185 million of secured bonds will have a 12 year maturity (due June 2025) and a fixed coupon of 3.921%, representing a spread of 112  basis points over the reference gilt yield. The proceeds will be used to repay secured debt that is due to mature in the next two years. The new bonds are being issued at a LTV of 50% and are expected to be rated A (sf) by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch, in line with USAF's existing bonds issued earlier this year.

The financing represents the completion of USAF's recent financing activity and further extends the maturity on its debt facilities, increasing USAF's weighted average debt maturity from two years at the start of the year to nine years whilst also resulting in an overall reduction in its total cost of interest from 4.9% at the start of the year to 3.7%. As part of the transaction, USAF will incur costs associated with breaking interest rate swaps of approximately £6 million, of which UNITE's share is £1 million. 

UNITE's share of the new debt represents approximately 5% of the Group's total net debt as at 31 December 2012 and will continue to support the improvement on the Group's key debt statistics on a see-through basis.

Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer of The UNITE Group plc, commented:

"The launch and pricing of the new bond represents the completion of USAF's refinancing programme and achieving a strong investment grade rating provides key benefits in giving access to longer term finance, at competitive rates, and diversifying USAF's sources of capital beyond the banking market.

"Together with the other financing activity undertaken by the Group over the last 12 months, the transaction will have a material impact on the UNITE's total cost of financing, bringing significant savings and contributing towards our target of a 4.5% earnings yield on NAV by 2015. "

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

The UNITE Group plc Sally Quigg, Head of Corporate Communications	Tel: [phone]
Bell Pottinger Victoria Geoghegan Nick Lambert Elizabeth Snow	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

About the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund ('USAF')

USAF is an open-ended non-listed real estate fund that focuses on acquiring and operating high quality student accommodation in the UK.

USAF is the largest specialist student accommodation fund. It currently holds a portfolio of 63 properties valued at over £1.3 billion which are located in 20 markets across the UK providing over 21,000 bed spaces.

Established in December 2006, USAF initially raised equity capital totalling £370 million from UK and European institutional property investors. It was initially seeded with a £515 million portfolio comprising 31 properties acquired from UNITE Group.

USAF completed its most recent capital raise in December 2009, raising £167 million of equity. The capital raise was oversubscribed, reflecting the appetite from investors for the student accommodation sector.

USAF has now grown to having over 100 investors. UNITE is the largest investor with a current co-investment stake of 16.3%. UNITE also acts as manager of USAF and operates its properties.

About The UNITE Group

The UNITE Group is the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation, with a business model that focuses on two core areas:

1.          Development and Asset Management: UNITE undertakes the acquisition, planning and development of purpose-built student accommodation in the UK. Through the continuous assessment of quality and location of its investment portfolio, UNITE is well positioned to deliver value-adding strategies to those assets where further opportunities are identified. Working on behalf of its partners, UNITE acts as Fund Manager for the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund in which it owns a 16.3% share. UNITE also manages a number of Joint Venture partnerships.

2.          Professional property management: UNITE is home to 42,000 students in over 130 properties across 23 of the UK's strongest university cities, and has consistently proven high occupancy levels across its portfolio.

The Group works closely with higher education institutions in order to deliver high quality, well-located student accommodation at affordable prices in strong higher education markets. In 2012, UNITE won the South West Business in the Community (BITC) Carbon Reduction Award for its environmental initiatives and was recognised as the residential regional sector leader for sustainability by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).

Founded in 1991, UNITE is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange (UTG). For more information, please visit www.unite-group.co.ukor www.unite-students.com.  

 

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