Apollo Lends £610M As Canary Wharf Completes £2B Of Refinancing
Apollo Global Management has completed a £610M loan to Canary Wharf Group, with the proceeds to be used to repay CWG’s bonds, due for repayment in April 2025 and April 2026, reducing debt pressure on the company.
The whole loan has been secured in tranches against the majority of CWG’s 1.2M SF retail portfolio, which is 97% occupied.
The bonds CWG is refinancing had margins of 2.63% and 1.75%, respectively, and CWG did not disclose the margins on the loan from Apollo. Brookfield, one of CWG’s major backers, had recently agreed to a £900M financing backstop with CWG in case it needed help repaying its 2025, 2026 and 2028 bonds, according to Reuters.
CWG said it has completed more than £2B of refinancing deals over the past 12 months. Following this latest loan, the company said it has repositioned its balance sheet such that there are no “material refinancings” required until 2028 and no significant office refinancing requirements until late 2029.
The refinancing deals include a £564M loan extension until November 2029 secured on 1-5 Bank Street, where tenants include Société Générale and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development; £132M secured on 15 and 20 Water Street, part of Wood Wharf; and £341M secured on 25 Churchill Place, extending the loan until July 2030 on an office building let to EY and European Medicines Agency until 2040 and 2039, respectively.
CWG has also obtained a loan of £80M for the construction of two new serviced apartment buildings in the Wharf at 3 and 15 West Lane, plus a £76M additional loan secured for One Churchill Place, together with an extension of the existing £390M loan to 2039.
“We are pleased that Apollo could provide a bespoke solution to address both near and medium-term maturities, which supports the stability and long-term nature of our capital structure,” Canary Wharf Group Chief Financial Officer Becky Worthington said in a statement.
“Our ability to transact in size and provide a tailored solution we think demonstrates why leading developers and real estate owners like CWG choose to partner with Apollo’s Real Estate Credit business,” added Ben Eppley, Apollo head of real estate credit for Europe.