Hibernia REIT agrees €100m BoI credit facility

Hibernia REIT has agreed a €100 million, three-year revolving credit facility with Bank of Ireland.

The deal — Hibernia’s first corporate debt facility — effectively raises its purchase capability to around €140m as it looks to further enhance its Dublin-based commercial property portfolio.

The company — one of the new breed of property investment funds to have floated in the past year — said at its AGM in Dublin last month that it was talking with a number of potential lenders.

While the debt option was always likely to be its initial preferred option, management mentioned that it had been also considering other funding options such as equity and joint-venture agreements.

At the meeting, management said that it continued to see significant further commercial and residential acquisition opportunities in the capital.

Hibernia raised €365m from floating on the Irish Stock Exchange late last year.

Since then, a busy acquisition and investment programme has seen it spend around €336m, or nearly 90% of its initial raised funds, with a further €63m already committed to various projects.

Its asset portfolio is nearly three-quarters dominated by central Dublin offices. Last month, it bought two adjacent buildings in the IFSC.

Speaking yesterday, Hibernia’s chief financial officer Tom Edwards-Moss said the new loan facility from Bank of Ireland provides the REIT with “flexible funding at attractive rates with which to invest it and grow our portfolio”.

“We remain committed to a conservative debt strategy, with our loan-to-value not exceeding 40% at incurrence, well within the limits of the Irish REIT regime,” he added.

The announcement was welcomed by analysts, with Goodbody Stockbrokers suggesting it will position Hibernia strongly with potential vendors like Nama.