Supermarket Income REIT plc (LON:SUPR) has announced the issuance of its debut £250 million sterling-denominated senior unsecured bond with a term of 6 years. The Bonds will be quoted on the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange.
The Bonds will bear a coupon of 5.125% and were priced at a spread of 115 basis points over the relevant benchmark. The bond issuance received strong demand from a broad range of high-quality institutional investors, with the orderbook peaking in excess of £985 million.
Fitch Ratings Ltd is expected to assign the Bonds an investment-grade rating of BBB+, in-line with its existing issuer ratings of Supermarket Income REIT plc. The net proceeds of the Bonds will be used for general corporate purposes including the refinancing of existing debt facilities. The issuance represents a further diversification of the Company’s capital structure, as it transitions to primarily unsecured financing, and extends its average debt maturity profile by almost two years.
Following the issuance of the Bonds, the Company’s LTV will be 34% on a pro-forma basis, and the weighted average debt maturity will be 4.6 years. The issuance will allow the Company to use the value of the existing interest rate derivatives to hedge its overall interest rate exposure to c.4.7%, once the joint venture proceeds have been redeployed, further supporting our focus on delivering a fully covered, growing and sustainable dividend for our shareholders.
Mike Perkins, CFO of Supermarket Income REIT, commented:
”As previously indicated, it has been a long-held ambition of ours to issue a bond and we are pleased that it has received such a strong level of investor interest. Our first bond issuance represents a significant milestone for the Company, enhancing our financial flexibility and supporting our long-term growth strategy.
Securing this longer dated financing at an attractive fixed rate lowers SUPR’s medium-term borrowing costs and enhances the potential earnings accretion of our attractive acquisition pipeline as we continue to scale the business.”
Barclays, Goldman Sachs and HSBC acted as Joint Active Bookrunners on the transaction. Wells Fargo and NatWest acted as Passive Bookrunners. SUPR was advised on the bond by Rothschild & Co.
