Unite Group PLC — Capital/Financing Update 2014

Feb 11, 2014

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RNS Number : 7371Z

Unite Group PLC

11 February 2014

11 February 2013

THE UNITE GROUP PLC

('UNITE', the 'Group', or the 'Company')

UNITE COMPLETES NEW £124 MILLION DEBT FACILITY

WITH CORNERSTONE REAL ESTATE ADVISERS EUROPE

The UNITE Group plc, the UK's largest developer and manager of student accommodation, announces that it has secured a new £124 million, fixed-rate 10 year debt facility with Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers Europe LLP.

This new loan is secured against four of UNITE's wholly owned portfolio at 50% loan-to-value and extends the Group's average debt maturity to seven years  at an average cost of debt of 4.7%. It furthers UNITE's objective of extending debt maturities, reducing the cost of funding and diversifying funding sources and introducing new lenders to the Group,  with over two-thirds of the Group's debt now provided from non-bank-sources.

Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer for the UNITE Group, said:

"We are delighted to complete this loan with Cornerstone Europe, a new relationship for UNITE. This transaction builds on the Group's success during 2013 and marks the conclusion of our planned refinancing programme having raised £1.1 billion over the last 12 months. We have delivered on our strategy to diversify sources of funds, extend loan maturities and reduce the cost of debt."

Chris Bates, Director - Head of Real Estate Finance at Cornerstone, said:

"We have developed a strong relationship with UNITE, and the commercial and pragmatic approach of both sides ensured that this significant transaction was closed within a month of agreeing terms. The transaction typifies our approach of working with market leading operators on quality income producing assets."

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

The UNITE Group plc Sally Quigg, Head of Corporate Communications	Tel: +44 117 302 7070
Bell Pottinger (for UNITE Group enquiries) Victoria Geoghegan Nick Lambert Elizabeth Snow	Tel: +44 20 7861 3925

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers Europe

Charles Weeks, Chief Executive Officer

Chris Bates, Head of Real Estate Finance

Tel: +44 (0)20 7297 0900

FTI Consulting (For Cornerstone Europe enquiries)

Richard Sunderland

Nick Taylor

Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113

About The UNITE Group 

UNITE is the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation, with a business model that focuses on two core areas:

1.       Development and Asset Management: UNITE undertakes the acquisition, planning and development of purpose-built student accommodation in the UK. Through the continuous assessment of quality and location of its investment portfolio, UNITE is well positioned to deliver value-adding strategies to those assets where further opportunities are identified. Working on behalf of its partners, UNITE acts as Fund Manager for the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund in which it owns a 16.3% share. UNITE also manages a number of Joint Venture partnerships.

2.       Professional property management: UNITE is home to 41,000 students in over 120 properties across 23 of the UK's strongest university cities, and has consistently proven high occupancy levels across its portfolio.

UNITE works closely with higher education institutions in order to deliver high quality, well-located student accommodation at affordable prices in strong higher education markets. In May 2013 UNITE was awarded Student Accommodation Provider of the Year at Property Week's RESI Awards. UNITE has also been recognised by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) as a European regional sector leader for sustainability.

Founded in 1991, UNITE is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange (UTG). For more information, please visit www.unite-group.co.uk  or www.unite-students.com   

About Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, with subsidiary and affiliate offices in the U.S., UK,

Europe and Asia, is one of the largest global real estate investment managers.  It provides core and value-added investment and advisory services, including a comprehensive suite of private and public real estate debt, equity and securities expertise and services, to institutional and other qualified investors around the globe.  Cornerstone is a member of the MassMutual Financial Group.

More information is at www.cornerstoneadvisers.com.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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