CLS secures £154m loan with Aviva Investors

CLS Holdings has secured a £154m loan from Aviva Investors, the listed property investment firm announced on Wednesday.

The loan, which is split equally between two 10-year and 12-year tranches, is secured against a portfolio of 12 UK properties, the majority of which by value are offices and include sites in Harrow, Staines and Vauxhall in south London.

It replaces three existing loans of £67m which were due to expire in 2020 and 2021, as well as gearing the unencumbered properties. The deal will result in net cash of £86m after costs, CLS said, boosting its cash reserves and allowing for “the evaluation of further acquisition opportunities”. The loan-to-value is 55% and the average interest rate is fixed at 2.62%.

Andrew Kirkman, chief financial officer of the FTSE 250 firm, said: “We are pleased to have secured this loan with such a well-established real estate funder. [It] increases our weighted average loan maturity by nearly 40% to 4.5 years.”

Asset management firm Aviva Investors is owned by insurance blue chip Aviva.

Shares in CLS were flat at 214p as at 1230 BST.