Hili Properties plc launches €37 million bond issue

Hili Properties plc, the property division of Hili Ventures Ltd, has launched a €37 million bond issue, maturing in 2025.

The unsecured bonds, at a nominal value of €100 per bond issued at par, bear an annual interest rate of 4.5%. Proceeds from the bond issue will be directed to refinancing property acquisitions. The bond issue is guaranteed by Harbour (APM) Investments Ltd and Hili Estates Ltd.

Hili Properties plc holds and manages an extensive portfolio of strategic real estate assets in key locations in Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The portfolio is dominated by commercial real estate and includes property housing McDonald’s restaurants, retail centres and office blocks.

In January, Hili Properties plc acquired nine retail complexes in Latvia, adding a total 18,500 square metres of retail footprint to its international commercial portfolio. The total area of the nine properties is 27,000 square metres.

Benefiting from strong demographics, the retail centres occupy footprints ranging from 950 square metres to 4,150 square metres and accommodate around 100 tenants between them. Most centres are 100 per cent occupied. The anchor tenants are supermarkets and convenience stores of chains well known in the Baltics and Northern Europe. Additional retail activities like pharmacies and personal care shops, delicatessen, banks and insurance brokers sit alongside the supermarkets using separate entrances or within a shop-in-shop concept.

In May, Hili Properties finalised the acquisition of Tower Business Centre in Swatar. The business block accommodates six major tenants including legal, financial and professional services firms. It has a rentable area of 8,200 square metres, including the 3,700 square metre underground garage.

Hili Properties plc – Prospectus dated 18 September 2015

Hili Properties plc – Bond Presentation

Application forms are available from September 24 from authorised financial intermediaries. Subscriptions open on October 7 and close on October 9, or earlier if the bond issue is over-subscribed.

Interest on the bonds commences on October 16 and refunds of unallocated monies will be made by October 23. The bonds are expected to be admitted to The Malta Stock Exchange on October 23. Trading is expected to commence on October 26.

Hili Properties plc will announce the basis of acceptance of applications and the allocation policy to be adopted by not later than Friday, October 16, 2015.