MEPC completes £470m CMBS refinancing with £168.0m prepayment

Release of Milton Park completes the refinancing of the MEPC portfolio.

MEPC, the developer and owner of eight Business Estates across the UK, announces that it will complete its CMBS refinancing strategy on 20 July 2011 with a £168.0m prepayment of the £470m loan securitised via Opera Finance (MEPC) plc. This follows the prepayment of £102.5m in January 2011, £74.5m in April 2011 and the recent announcement to prepay £125.0m on 20 July 2011. MEPC will use a combination of cash from recent disposals and equity, alongside a new seven-year facility of £145m from Deutsche Bank.

This final prepayment successfully completes MEPC’s refinancing strategy a full 12 months ahead of the CMBS maturity in 20 July 2012. The CMBS, completed in November 2005 and arranged by Eurohypo AG, was secured against four of MEPC’s Business Estates – Milton Park in Oxfordshire, Birchwood Park in Warrington, Chineham Park in Basingstoke and Hillington Park in Glasgow.

Rick de Blaby, Chief Executive of MEPC, said, “It is very satisfying to have now refinanced the whole of the £470m CMBS Notes a year ahead of maturity. We have secured the amounts, the terms and the diversity of debt we set out to achieve from banks with whom we have valued relationships. This serves as a very positive endorsement of our strategy, our assets and our management.”

MEPC was advised by Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP on the refinancing of Milton Park, the part repayment of the CMBS transaction.and the associated corporate restructuring. The teams at MEPC and BLP have worked closely together since 2005 when the fund was originally established and more recently on the successful implementation of the full refinancing of the CMBS and overall restructuring of the fund.

MEPC was advised by J.C.Rathbone Associates in identifying an appropriate refinancing strategy to replace the CMBS and in executing the new debt facilities. Caroline Snowden, Head of Structured Finance, JCRA, commented, “We are pleased to have assisted in identifying new lenders for MEPC and in securing four new debt facilities in line with the identified strategy.”