Bruntwood secures £276m sustainability loan from Aviva

Bruntwood has agreed a £276m, 15-year sustainable-linked loan facility with Aviva Investors. The loan facility has been made on behalf of both internal and external client mandates managed by Aviva Investors, including the Aviva UK Life Annuity business. It is secured against 22 office assets, primarily located in Manchester and Birmingham. The funding will allow Bruntwood to consolidate and extend the maturity of its long-term funding facilities until 2036, by refinancing an existing credit line and extending the term of an existing £121m Aviva facility, which was set to mature in 2031. Bruntwood has also agreed a number of sustainability performance metrics, primarily focusing on reducing carbon emissions and procuring green energy. The firm intends to speed up its decarbonisation as part of its net zero goals for new buildings by 2030, and its entire portfolio by 2050. It is the second major climate-aligned financing facility to be secured by the Bruntwood group this year, after Bruntwood SciTech – its joint venture with Legal & General – closed a £95m sustainability-linked loan last month. In addition to using the funding to invest in new infrastructure to support its low-carbon transition, Bruntwood will also have the capacity to make substantial capital investment into the portfolio. Chris Oglesby, chief executive of Bruntwood (pictured), said: “This is a milestone new agreement for Bruntwood that provides us with significant new capital to support our strategic investments over the next decade and beyond, while also recognising the leadership position we have taken in tackling climate change in the UK’s real estate sector.” Gregor Bamert, head of real estate debt at Aviva Investors, said: “Bruntwood’s exceptional track record over the last five years that we have worked together, coupled with their forward-thinking, sustainable approach to their customers, gives us significant comfort providing long-term facilities in this sector. “We’re especially pleased to see the completion of yet another sustainable transition loan since the launch of our initiative in December and are proud to be helping one of the industry’s first movers on sustainability to increase the scale and scope of their decarbonisation. “This strong borrower-lender partnership includes a commitment to review performance targets regularly throughout the term, in line with an anticipated evolution of ESG measures over the loan period.” To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews