Axa agrees €75m facility with Dutch prop co

Axa Real Estate Investment Managers has provided a €75m unsecured loan facility to Vastned, the Dutch-listed European retail property specialist.

The loan has a term of seven years and a floating interest rate with a “competitive margin”.

Axa is the largest pan-European real estate financier among insurers, led by global head of real estate Isabelle Scemama (pictured), with a loan book of €5.6bn and is increasingly competing with traditional bank lenders.

One example of a recent deal it financed came in last month when itcontributed €318m towards the €930m of Lone Star’s Coeur Défense in Paris.

Vastned’s non-bank financing now stands at over €300m having used both the US and European private placement market. Rabobank acted as sole arranger and placement agent for the transaction.

Tom de Witte, chief finance officer of Vastned said: “The new loan fits perfectly with our strategy to further diversify our financing. The fact that Vastned has been able to take out an unsecured long-term loan in the European private placement market, as one of the first property companies, is something we consider as confirmation of our attractive risk profile, and broadens Vastned’s financing options going forward.”