BAML finances Logicor’s Finnish portfolio with €575m loan

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) has provided a €575 million loan to refinance the Certeum portfolio of Finnish logistics properties, which is majority owned by Blackstone and sits within its Logicor platform.

The five-year senior facility reflects a loan-to-value ratio in the region of 62.5 percent and is priced around 300 basis points over three-month Euribor, according to CoStar News, which first reported the financing today.

At this stage, BAML is understood to be considering either a CMBS or a syndication exit from the loan.

Logicor acquired a controlling stake in Certeum last December from shareholders including Finnish real estate company Sponda and Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Finland’s largest pension insurer.

Certeum’s 1.3 million square metre portfolio comprises 122 assets. Around 75 percent of the portfolio is located in Finland’s largest cities including Helsinki, Tampere and Turku.

The company’s 2014 annual report showed that the portfolio was valued at €905 million. The firm signed a syndicated loan agreement in September 2014 totalling €500 million, including a €360 million five-year loan, a €100 million three-year loan and a €40 million four-year revolving credit facility.

The firm’s lenders at the end of 2014 were Danske Bank, Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj, Pohjola Pankki Oyj, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, Svenska Handelsbanken AB and Swedbank. Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj acted as agent on the loan.

Speaking at the time of the acquisition, Logicor’s CEO and president, Mo Barzegar, said: “I am delighted that Logicor is entering Finland and expanding into a third Nordic market which has strong underlying fundamentals and an improving macroeconomic environment. The assets are well-located and complementary to our existing portfolio, continuing our strategy of growing our customer offering by investing in key locations in close proximity to urban areas.”