Cromwell EREIT enters into new loan to refinance debt

The REIT will repay a loan for three office assets in the Netherlands.

Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT) has received all change of control waivers sought in relation to the sale of a 27.79% stake to Stoneweg for approximately $398m (€280m) with the exception of one lender.

The lender is associated with the $117m (€82.4m) debt facility secured against three office assets in the Netherlands (NL Office Loan). The NL Office Loan had a fixed interest rate of 1.93% and a maturity date in December 2026.

To close the transaction, CEREIT has entered into a new 5-year and 1-month secured debt facility agreement (ABN Amro Facility) for $117m (€82.4m) with ABN Amro Bank N.V.

The ABN Amro Facility will afford more flexibility in dealing with the redevelopment proposed in the future in one of the secured assets in Ruyterkade. However, the loan facility comes with a higher all-in interest rate.

To offset these costs, CEREIT received a sum of $5.7m (€4m) from its sponsor, Cromwell Property Group, to cover the higher interest expenses of the ABN Amro Facility over the remaining term of the original NL Office Loan.

On 12 December, the NL Office Loan was prepaid using funds from CEREIT’s revolving credit facility (RCF). Following this, on 16 December, CEREIT sent a utilisation request to draw on the ABN Amro loan which will be used to repay the RCF, completing the seven-day transition period.