Banks provide new €200m facility for Prologis fund

Logistics investor and developer Prologis has upsized and amended senior debt held by its Prologis European Properties Fund II (PEPF II).

A new €200m facility has been arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan and ING Bank, with the latter joining as a new lender. The facility also provides for an additional accordion feature – the ability to extend the volume of debt – to the tune of €100m.

The new five-year loan replaces a previous €150m facility. Loan terms have also been improved.

In addition, Standard & Poor’s has upgraded PEPF II’s credit rating to BBB+, with a stable outlook. The rating agent cited the fund’s strengthened credit metrics as well as a bigger portfolio amid continuing organic growth, as rationale for the upgrade.

S&P said: “In our opinion, PEPF II’s scale, scope, and diversity benefit from a relatively large pan-European portfolio of premium logistics assets. In addition, we believe that market conditions in the European logistics sector are currently more favourable to PEPF II, due to the still-limited supply of new modern warehouses in Europe.”

Prologis Europe and Capital Markets’ Christian Nickels-Teske, senior vice president and head of treasury, said: “The rating upgrade and new multicurrency facility provide PEPF II with greater flexibility to capture market opportunities”.

Company credit ratings are a key factor that lenders and investors take into consideration to determine pricing of corporate facilities and issuances.