Investor interest for European CMBS is set to be tested by the launch of the £750m securitisation of Westfield’s Stratford City shopping centre.
Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank have begun marketing the CMBS which is understood to have been priced at just 75 basis points in the lowest-priced CMBS debt issued since the financial crisis.
Westfield Group also has corporate bonds in the market which one banker said presents “an interesting trading dynamic” and that the securitisation will show “how much can be digested in the UK”.
Following the launch of ?the five-year securitisation on ?29 July, Fitch affirmed that ?the single-tranche notes have been given an investment grade AAA rating.
The CMBS will mature in August 2019, with a legal final maturity of August 2024.
The agency-style transaction, which refinances a 2011 vintage £550m loan secured against the 1.9m sq ft that was set to mature in July 2016, is the largest UK CMBS in recent years.
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
