(Alliance News) - Property investor Great Portland Estates PLC said Thursday it has signed an unsecured revolving credit facility worth GBP450 million with a group of five banks for general corporate purposes.
The facility is at a headline margin of 90 basis points over Libor, and has an initial five-year term, which subject to bank consent may be extended to a maximum of seven years.
The five banks involved in the facility are Santander, NatWest, Wells Fargo, Lloyds Bank plc and Bank of China.
In addition, the facility comes with three key performance indicators linked to environmental, social and corporate governance and include annual pre-agreed targets.
The KPIs are based on several of Great Portland's targets, including the reduction of the energy intensity its property portfolio by 40% by 2030, building net zero carbon new buildings from 2030 onwards, and increasing its biodiversity net gain.
Great Portland Estates said it will measure its performance against each KPI annually from May 2021, and will receive from its lenders either an increase or decrease of 2.5 basis points to the headline margin based on this performance. Any savings will be given to environmental charities, the company said.
"We are very pleased to have arranged this innovative new facility with our relationship banks. Their support for our issuance of the first ESG-linked bank facility by a UK REIT demonstrates their alignment with our sustainability strategy and support for our focused business model, whilst further enhancing our already strong financial position," said Martin Leighton, director of Corporate Finance.
Shares in Great Portland Estates - which is based in London - were down 0.8% at 926.60 pence on Thursday.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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