Charter Hall Group has executed a fully underwritten $3.35 billion of green loan facilities on behalf of one of its funds.
On Monday, the specialist fund manager confirmed that the transaction is part of a strategic capital management initiative for its $8.6 billion flagship office fund, Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF).
The strategic capital management initiative, according to Charter Hall, has enabled CPOF to leverage its sustainability credentials and will facilitate the delivery of its premium grade development pipeline.
Led by CBA, WBC, ANZ, HSBC and SMBC as mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners (MLAUBs), the transaction grows Charter Hall’s platform-wide sustainable finance to more than $9 billion, all of which is in the office sector.
“This transaction underpins the strength of CPOF’s sustainability credentials and the competitive advantage that our investment in sustainability provides our fund investors,” CPOF’s fund manager, Miriam Patterson, said.
“This has been driven, in large part, by Charter Hall’s approach to using independent green building rating tools to benchmark performance and drive continuous improvement,” Patterson said.
“As a result, we’ve been able to efficiently implement this initiative, securing financial covenants that provide market-leading headroom.”
Patterson noted that the deal also allows for operational flexibility, reducing the average age of the portfolio, and takes advantage of the growing divide in tenant demand for modern, state-of-the-art office spaces.
She clarified that this includes the development of new premium grade towers, such as the recently completed 60 King William, Wesley Place and 555 Collins Street assets, as well as the under-construction premium grade Chifley South in the Sydney CBD and 360 Queen Street in Brisbane.
“Our portfolio curation also enables us to maintain sector-leading portfolio WALE, with our track record of new developments being fully leased prior to or upon completion and achieving longer WALEs than other stabilised assets.”
Charter Hall Group treasurer Darren Beatty added: “We appreciate the support of the MLAUBs in executing this significant transaction, which was well-oversubscribed, reflecting the strength of the fund and the reputation of the Charter Hall platform among financiers.”
Beatty revealed that, through the initiative, Charter Hall has extended the fund’s weighted average debt maturity profile to 5.2 years – a “market-leading profile” for an office fund.
