(RTTNews) - Great Portland Estates plc (GPOR.L) said Thursday that it has signed a 450 million pounds ESG-linked unsecured revolving credit facility or RCF, at a headline margin of 90 basis points over LIBOR, with a group of five existing relationship banks.
The participating banks are Santander, NatWest, Wells Fargo, Lloyds Bank plc and Bank of China. Santander acted as the Sustainability Co-ordinator.
The facility is for an initial five-year term that can be extended to a maximum of seven years at Great Portland Estates or GPE's request, subject to bank consent.
GPE noted that the facility is fully available for general corporate purposes and includes the company's standard unsecured financial covenants. It is an amendment and extension of the Group's 450 million pounds RCF signed in October 2018, which had a headline margin of 92.5 basis points.
GPE noted that the new facility, the first to be issued by a UK REIT, incorporates three ESG-linked key performance indicators or KPIs that align with the company's sustainability strategy. This includes the company's participation in the Better Buildings Partnership Climate Change Commitment signed by it in late 2019.
The KPIs include annual pre-agreed targets and are based on supporting the company's efforts to reduce its portfolio energy intensity by 40 percent by 2030, supporting the company's target to build net zero carbon new buildings from 2030, and providing better quality urban greening measures.
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