Unite has secured £226m of new debt from Legal & General and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The student accommodation developer and manager has agreed two separate facilities from the lenders for its Unite Capital Cities joint venture with GIC. The debt refinances a £227m HSH Nordbank facility ahead of a September maturity.
L&G’s Commercial Lending business has provided the jv with a £149m, nine-year loan at a 55% loan-to-value ratio and a fixed rate of 4.3% pa.
It is Unite’s second loan from the insurance giant. In May 2012 L&G provided the group with a new £121m, 10-year facility at 60% LTV with a fixed rate of 5%. L&G arranged the loan and acted as facility agent.
The five-year RBS facility for £77m is at an initial LTV of 68% and an average cost of 3.3% pa. Both Unite and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC are existing RBS clients.
Unite owns a 30% stake in the £385m jv, which has assets in London, such as North Lodge in Tottenham Hale (pictured), and Edinburgh.
It will increase this holding to 34% as part of the strategy to consolidate Unite’s two jvs with GIC by reinvesting a £7m performance fee received from UCC for completing this deal.
Bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
