Bruntwood SciTech has secured an additional £100m funding package from Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander UK, taking its total facilities to £580m.
The package has been extended to three years and comprises a £530m investment facility – of which £450m is a term loan and £80m is a revolving credit facility – and a £50m development facility.
The funding will be used to deliver office and lab space across Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Cambridge, where Bruntwood SciTech has 11 campuses and 31 city centre innovation hubs.
Kevin Crotty, chief financial officer for Bruntwood SciTech, said: “18 months on from announcing that Greater Manchester Pension Fund would be joining the joint venture, and that we’d secured an additional £500m of investment into the business to support growth of the science, tech and innovation sectors, we remain committed to delivering the ambitious development projects needed to help regional innovation clusters grow. The continued support of our financial partners in helping us to drive forward this work is hugely appreciated and is a show of confidence in our ability to meet this ambition.
“This funding facility will also enable us to continue putting sustainability at the heart of all our new and ongoing developments. As well as working hard to reduce our own carbon footprint, we’re also helping to make it easier for our customers to do the same. With the new funding, we will be able to move quickly and generate the momentum needed to deliver a more sustainable built environment for businesses to innovate, collaborate and grow within.”
Andy Clarke, director, real estate finance at NatWest, added: “NatWest are pleased to be providing our continued support to Bruntwood SciTech with this latest funding. The sustainably linked funding package will support further investment and growth in the science, technology & innovation sector, and will also support Bruntwood with their ambitions for a net zero future.”
Jason Constable, head of real estate at Barclays Corporate Banking, said: “We are pleased to extend our support for Bruntwood SciTech as the business continues to expand by delivering best in class, environmentally conscious workspaces for an innovative sector.”
Matt Jones, senior director, real estate finance at Santander UK, added: “We are delighted to continue supporting Bruntwood SciTech in their growth and sustainability journeys, as they develop their extensive portfolio of projects and move towards their 2050 net zero targets. We look forward to continuing working with the Bruntwood SciTech team going forwards
Richard Butterfield, director, real estate finance at Lloyds, said “Lloyds is proud to continue supporting Bruntwood SciTech as it delivers its ambitious growth plans and continues to invest in the UK’s most innovative, fastest growing, and economically important sectors. This sustainably-linked funding package will help the business continue its efforts to decarbonise existing and new developments.”
Peter Nelson, HSBC UK relationship director, said: “It is great to contribute to Bruntwood’s continued investment which is enabling growth of the innovation sectors in cities across the UK.”
Lloyds acted as sustainability coordinator and HSBC acted as the facility agent. Hill Dickinson acted on behalf of the lenders and Addleshaw Goddard acted for Bruntwood SciTech, with CBRE and JLL providing valuations.
