Aviva Investors has provided a £154 million senior debt facility to CLS Holdings plc for the refinancing of UK property portfolio.
The financing, which is provided over 10 and 12-year fixed-rate tranches, is being made on behalf of a combination of the Aviva UK Life Annuity business and third-party client mandates.
Located across London and the South East of England, the portfolio consists of 11 office assets alongside a mixed-use scheme in Vauxhall, including hotel and student accommodation assets. The assets are let to a broad mix of tenants with income well diversified across the portfolio and carry a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of 5.2 years.
The facility is structured to include KPIs that are linked to sustainability targets, and which have been independently reviewed to provide assurance that they are aligned with LMA sustainability-linked loan principles. A margin reduction of up to 10 basis points is available dependent on CLS delivering specific targets which will be assessed annually throughout the life of the facility.
“We are delighted to support CLS and the strong emphasis it places on the provision of a sustainable portfolio. This transaction builds on our experience of incentivising borrowers to bring the green credentials of their portfolios into sharper focus, and we are pleased to have received independent assurance that the facility is aligned with LMA sustainability linked loan principles. The wide range of investment capital used within the facility further underlines our ability to tailor debt solutions for borrowers whilst delivering strong opportunities for our investor clients,” said Gregor Bamert, Head of Real Estate Debt at Aviva Investors.
“We are very pleased to be working alongside Aviva Investors and their external clients on this new financing. The sustainability elements of the facility are particularly attractive, allowing us to work towards reducing the environmental impact of our annuity investment portfolio,” said Ashish Dafria, Chief Investment Officer, Aviva UK Life.
“We are pleased to have secured this £154m loan with such a well-established real estate funder as Aviva Investors. This loan increases our weighted average loan maturity by nearly 50% to 4.5 years. Moreover, we are delighted that the loan recognises our sustainability progress and incentivises our future target delivery as well as aligning our sustainability commitment to that of Aviva Investors,” commented Andrew Kirkman, Chief Financial Officer of CLS.
