Hibernia issues £107m debt to US investors to pay for Dublin offices

Property investor Hibernia has turned to the US to issue €125m (£107m) in debt to help fund the development of two office projects in Dublin. The REIT has agreed to issue equal amounts of 10 and 12-year unsecured US private placement notes, with a fixed average coupon of 1.9%. Hibernia will use the funds for its ongoing developments at Clanwilliam Court, a 18,600 sq ft office block designed to house more than 1,500 workers facing on to the Grand Canal, and Harcourt Square, a 343,000 sq ft scheme in Dublin city centre which is the site of Garda’s regional headquarters. They have been placed with five institutional investors, which Hibernia did not name but said they were all new lenders to the company. The transaction was priced on 14 April and funds will be drawn on 23 July. Hibernia’s weighted average debt maturity at 31 March was 3.4 years. Cash and undrawn facilities, net of commitments, amounted to €110m. Pro forma for the new notes, the weighted average debt maturity at the same date is extended to 5.2 years and cash and undrawn facilities, net of commitments, increases to €235m.              Tom Edwards-Moss, Hibernia’s chief financial officer, said the debt issue “increases our financial capacity and will help fund the development of our new office clusters at Clanwilliam Court and Harcourt Square”. “We are also delighted to welcome five new investors as long-term lenders. The new notes have a fixed coupon below the average cost of our existing borrowings and significantly extend the weighted average maturity of our debt.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@eg.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @EGPropertyNews