MAG agrees £560m bank refinancing

Manchester Airports Group has refinanced an existing five-year revolving credit facility and secured new credit facilities to create a pot worth £560m.

The airport group’s existing £300m revolving credit and £60m liquidity facilities, along with £90m in remaining term loans, have been refinanced as part of this process.

As part of its acquisition of London Stansted Airport from BAA in January 2013, MAG successfully arranged debt facilities made up of £900m in term loans and a £300m revolving credit facility, provided by a group of 12 banks.

A year later, in February and April 2014, MAG issued two inaugural UK GBP public listed bonds totalling £810m.

Proceeds of the bond issue were used to pay down the 2013 term loans, with the remaining £90m being refinanced with the new revolving credit facility.

The new £560m bank facilities are part of the long-term financing for the Group, to support the planned £1bn transformation programme at Manchester Airport.

The new credit facilities will be provided by BNP Paribas, Barclays, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, HSBC, Handelsbanken, National Australia Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Neil Thompson, MAG’s chief financial officer, said: “This successful refinancing of our bank facilities combined with our bond issuances in 2014 provides MAG with a strong long-term funding platform to support the continued growth of the business, including investment in our infrastructure at Manchester and Stansted and great service to passengers and airlines.”