MUFG and bpha complete £75m social housing deal
6 October, 2016
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (MUFG) banking arm and Bedford-based housing association bpha today announce the signing of a new £75m ten-year revolving credit facility.
MUFG is one of the world’s largest and most stable banking groups. It launched a Social Housing offering last year that consists of a number of lending products, including 5-10 years’ secured lending by way of either term loan or revolving credit facility (RCF), as well as complementary business lines such as transaction banking, derivatives and capital market solutions. This deal represents a notable transaction in the sector and MUFG’s third loan to a registered provider.
The facility further builds on bpha’s work last year to increase liquidity, whereby £80m of funding was raised through the Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme. In addition, the £100m restructuring of bpha’s derivative portfolio resulted in a significant reduction of potential mark to market exposure. This work, combined with today’s deal, ensures the continued viability of bpha’s long-term commitment to build 500-plus new homes per annum for the foreseeable future.
Robert Bartlett, Executive Director, MUFG, said: “bpha were one of the first registered providers we approached last year and we are delighted to have been able to put this facility in place. The bpha management team have given us a great deal of confidence in being able to navigate the business through the ongoing changes within the sector and we very much look forward to building a long term relationship with such an important client.”
Paul Gray, Chief Financial Officer of bpha, added: “We are delighted to have agreed this 10-year revolving credit facility with MUFG, which offered competitive terms, fitted well with our debt maturity requirements and will support our ongoing development of new homes. The team at MUFG were straightforward to deal with and we look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
Michael Scales, Director, Infrastructure, MUFG, added: “Signing with bpha adds another strong registered provider to our expanding Social Housing portfolio. We continue to see keen interest in our RCF product on a bilateral basis and we are working on a number of other opportunities within the housing sector.”
