Big Yellow rolls over debt facility

Storage firm Big Yellow has completed the first stage of its refinancing programme after taking out a 15-year loan with Aviva Commercial Finance.

The £100m loan is secured by a portfolio of 15 freehold self-storage centres, which were valued at £242.1m at the end of February.

The firm said the money would be used to repay and cancel £100m of the group's core bank debt facility, reducing it to £225m.

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This facility expires in September 2013 and is secured on the remainder of the group's self storage centres, it said.

The company added that the much of the repayment and cancellation has been applied against debts held with HSH Nordbank, which had been reduced from £150m to £65m.

The terms of the loan are very similar to those it replaces, with the previous debt charging interest at 4.8%, compared with 4.9% on the new loan.

"We are delighted to have arranged this new loan with Aviva which provides a stable core of long term financing for the group from a new debt provider to the business," said Big Yellow's Chief Financial Officer, John Trotman,

"We will now enter into discussions with our banking group, who continue to be supportive, with a view to refinancing the core bank debt facility in the current year."

The firm also gave updates on actions it was taking on surplus sites.

It has completed the sale of its site at Blackheath to Hexagon Housing Association Limited for £4.5m, while exchanging contracts on the sale of a surplus one acre site next to its flagship Chiswick store for £4.75m.

However, it added that a Premier Inn hotel it is developing at Richmond needed an £2.8m to complete the development.