Aviva Investors has provided an additional £57 million in sustainable transition financing to property Urban Logistics REIT.
The new loan for a nine-year facility is secured against a portfolio of ten logistics assets across the UK which together total more than 900,000 sq ft of space.
The loan follows Aviva’s Sustainable Transition Loans framework which sees interest rate reductions upon meeting environmental-linked targets across the buildings the loan is secured against.
The loan also includes a commitment from Urban Logistics to undertake sustainability improvements across the ten assets being lent against, as well as 23 additional properties from previous tranches of financing that were not sustainability-linked.
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each day
Aviva Investors head of real estate debt Gregor Bamert said the management company is happy to have bought everything sustainable transition loans framework, “showing its commitment to continue enhancing the sustainability credentials of its assets.”
Urban Logistics Asset Management CEO Richard Moffitt said the company has worked with Aviva Investors “for a number of years, taking out competitively priced, fixed term debt, reducing the REIT’s exposure to interest rate volatility.
“This refinance allows us to do exactly this, moving the total debt book to an all in cost of 4.2%, 93% hedged or fixed to term, while the sustainability link further embeds our ESG targets across the business,” he added.