Pinsent Masons advises lenders on £430m loan to NewRiver Retail
International law firm Pinsent Masons has advised a syndicate of banks consisting of Barclays, HSBC, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander on £430 million of new unsecured debt facilities to FTSE-250 listed NewRiver Retail REIT PLC.
The new facilities, which replace £414 million of existing secured facilities, include a £165 million term loan and a £215 million revolving credit facility. The remaining £50 million is a term loan, providing NewRiver with the ability to further diversify sources of unsecured debt funding in due course. The refinancing exercise will provide the company with a reduced cost of debt, increased flexibility and an increased debt maturity.
NewRiver is a leading property investor, asset manager and developer specialising in the UK retail and leisure sector. NewRiver one of the UK’s largest shopping centre owner/managers with assets under management of £1.3 billion comprising 33 UK-wide shopping centres, 22 retail warehouses, 15 high street assets and a portfolio of 344 pubs. A Real Estate Investment Trust, NewRiver was founded in 2009 and listed on the AIM London Stock Market. On the 18 August 2016, NewRiver moved to a premium listing on the Main market of the London Stock Exchange as a plc.
The Pinsent Masons team acting on the transaction was led by William Oliver, Real Estate Finance partner, and comprised of Esther Parkes, Stephen Woods and Isabel Whitehurst .
Commenting on the deal William Oliver said:
"We were very pleased to advise the banks on the refinancing and to assist NewRiver on reaching this significant milestone."