$250M credit facility arranged for United Hampshire US REIT, a publicly traded REIT investing in grocery-anchored and necessity-based retail and modern self-storage properties along the East Coast

CHARLOTTE, January. 30, 2023 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged a $250 million credit facility for United Hampshire US REIT, a Singapore REIT with 23 properties located across the East Coast. 

JLL’s Corporate Banking Advisory Group (“CBA”) represented the corporate borrowers, United Hampshire US Parent REIT, Inc. and United Hampshire US Holdings LLC (collectively the borrowers), both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of United Hampshire US REIT (UHREIT), in the credit facility. The credit facility consisted of term loans and a revolving credit facility containing important flexibilities to accommodate long-term growth and is supported by a covenant structure consistent with REIT corporate financings.

United Hampshire US REIT is an externally managed, Singapore REIT listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) on March 12 of 2020. The REIT’s principal investment strategy is focused on investing in a diversified portfolio of stabilized, income-producing grocery-anchored and necessity-based properties and self-storage facilities in the United States of America.

Mr. Robert Schmitt, Chief Executive Officer of the Manager of UHREIT, said, “We are pleased to be able to work with JLL in successfully completing this refinancing, notwithstanding the challenging market conditions. This new credit facility significantly increases our weighted average debt maturity and eliminates any near-term loan refinancing requirements until 2024. Most importantly, the new debt facility will allow us to focus on optimising the performance of our properties while providing us the opportunity to grow the portfolio and deliver healthy returns to our unitholders.”

JLL’s Corporate Banking Advisory Group representing the REIT was led by Senior Managing Director Anthony Fertitta and Analyst Jonathan Koletic. The group specializes in arranging and structuring entity-level corporate finance transactions, including secured/unsecured credit facilities, subscription facilities, warehouse/repo facilities and other entity-level financing solutions for various REITs/REOCs, private equity funds, investment managers and other real estate clients. The opportunity was sourced by Jon Mikula and Michael Klein, out of JLL's New Jersey office, who hold long-standing relationships with The Hampshire Companies.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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Listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange on 12 March 2020, UHREIT is a Singapore real estate investment trust established with the principal investment strategy of investing in a diversified portfolio of stabilised income-producing (i) grocery-anchored and necessity-based[1] retail properties (“Grocery & Necessity Properties”), and (ii) modern, climate-controlled self-storage facilities (“Self-Storage Properties”), located in the U.S.

The tenants targeted by UHREIT are tenants resilient to the impact of e-commerce, including but not limited to restaurants, home improvement stores, fitness centers, warehouse clubs and other uses with strong omnichannel platforms[2].

UHREIT’s portfolio comprises 21 predominantly freehold Grocery & Necessity Properties and 2 Self-Storage Properties, primarily concentrated in the East Coast of the U.S., with a property value of approximately US$735.7 million[3] and an aggregate net lettable area (“NLA”) of approximately 3.8 million square feet. 

For further information, visit uhreit.com.

[1] “Grocery-anchored and necessity-based” retail properties are assets which are anchored by non-discretionary spending businesses such as supermarkets and grocers (generally accounting for 50 to 70 per cent of the NLA), complemented by smaller inline tenants (generally each accounting for less than 5 per cent of the NLA) for lifestyle services such as hair salons, laundry and dry cleaning stores.

[2] “Omnichannel platforms” means the utilisation of multiple distribution channels, both physical and digital to allow the retailer to be better positioned to engage with the customer. These channels include the physical store, websites, phones, e-mail offers, social media, and traditional advertisement methods (i.e. print media).  

[3] Based on carrying value of investment properties as at 30 September 2022.