CLS agrees £62m green loan with Scottish Widows

Property investor CLS has agreed a £61.7m long-term green loan with Scottish Widows, secured on a portfolio of five office properties in the UK. The 12-year loan comes with a 10-basis point margin reduction if CLS meets sustainability targets. It means around one-fifth of CLS’s loans are linked to environmental performance. Once completed, the deal will finance three recent acquisitions, and replaces two existing loans of £27.4m which were due to expire before the end of the year. It has a loan-to-value ratio of 55%, and a fixed interest rate of 2.65%. Once completed, CLS will have just over £150m and an LTV of 39%, plus an extra £50m in undrawn facilities. Chief financial officer Andrew Kirkman said the loan “recognises and incentivises our sustainability commitments while aligning them to those of Scottish Widows”. He added: “Furthermore, this loan diversifies our debt profile and the amount meeting green financing principles.” Duncan Smith, director of loan investments at Scottish Widows, added: “This marks the first sustainability-linked Scottish Widows loan and follows our recent announcement to halve our carbon footprint of investments by 2030 and target net zero emissions by 2050.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@egi.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @estatesgazette Photo by Arun Thomas from Pexels