Empiric secures £32m Allied Irish loan

Empiric Student Property, the owner and operator of student halls across Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster, has agreed a £32.8m debt facility with Allied Irish Bank.

The facility is a development loan, and will be used to forward fund five buildings due for completion by July 2017. The assets are all held as a lending group through a wholly owned subsidiary, Empiric Investments (Six).

Once the buildings reach practical completion, the facility will convert into an investment loan.

Advice on the loan structure and arranging the debt was provided by JC Rathbone Associates.

Paul Hadaway, chief executive of Empiric Student Property, said: “We are very pleased to have secured this debt facility with Allied Irish Bank which demonstrates that, even in volatile markets, funding at highly competitive pricing is available for companies, such as Empiric, with a solid business model. The facility will help to maximise the group’s development potential by recycling equity currently committed to our forward funded developments. The Allied Irish Bank team has been enthusiastic and supportive, and we believe that this new relationship bodes well for the future.”