PRESS RELEASE
19 June 2024
THE UNITE GROUP
PLC
('Unite
Students', 'Unite', the 'Group', or the 'Company')
£400 MILLION, 8 YEAR,
UNSECURED BOND ISSUANCE
Unite Students, the UK's leading
owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, is pleased
to announce the pricing of a £400 million, 8 year, unsecured bond
under the Group's recently established Euro Medium Term Note 'EMTN'
Programme.
The bonds will bear a coupon of
5.625%. The effective cost to the Company is reduced due to prior
hedging at interest rates significantly below current market rates.
The Group's expected weighted average cost of debt for FY2024
remains in-line with our previous guidance of 3.6% (FY2023: 3.2%).
Following issuance of the bonds, the Group's weighted average debt
maturity will increase to 4.3 years (December 2023: 3.8
years).
S&P and Moody's are expected to
assign BBB and Baa1 ratings to the bonds, in-line with their
existing issuer ratings of The Unite Group plc. The bonds will be
used for general corporate purposes including
refinancing.
Michael Burt, Unite Students Chief Financial Officer,
commented:
"We are pleased to have issued our
first bond through our new Euro Medium Term Note Programme which
enhances our access to debt markets. This new financing provides
increased flexibility to fund our growing pipeline of development
and accretive asset management opportunities and lengthens our
maturity profile"
ENDS
For
further information, please contact:
Unite Students
Joe Lister / Mike Burt / Saxon
Ridley
Tel: +44 117 302 7005
Unite press
office
Tel: +44 117 450 6300
Powerscourt
Justin Griffiths / Victoria
Heslop
Tel: +44 20 7250 1446
About Unite Students
Unite Students is the UK's largest
owner, manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation
(PBSA) serving the country's world-leading higher education sector.
We provide homes to 70,000 students across 157 properties in 23
leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over
60 universities across the UK.
Our people are driven by a common
purpose: to provide a 'Home for Success' for the students who live
with us. Unite Students' accommodation is safe and secure, high
quality, and affordable. Students live predominantly in en-suite
study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour
security and high-speed Wi-Fi. We also
achieved a five-star British Safety Council rating in our last
audit.
We are committed to raising
standards in the student accommodation sector for our customers,
investors and employees. This is why our Sustainability Strategy,
launched in 2021, includes a commitment to become net zero carbon
across our operations and developments by 2030.
Founded in 1991 in Bristol, the
Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information, visit Unite Group's corporate
website www.unitegroup.com
or the Unite Students'
site www.unitestudents.com