BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DDR Corp.
(NYSE: DDR) announced today that it has closed $353 million of new long-term financings,
comprised of a $250 million unsecured
term loan ("Term Loan") and a $103
million mortgage loan ("Mortgage Loan"). These financings
address the majority of the company's 2012 consolidated debt
maturities and improve debt duration, which further reduces the
company's risk profile.
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Proceeds from the Term Loan will be used to retire $184 million of convertible notes maturing in
March 2012, reduce the outstanding
balances under the Company's revolving credit facilities, and for
general corporate purposes. DDR's remaining 2012 consolidated
unsecured debt maturities consist of $223
million of unsecured notes that mature in October 2012, and the company has no other
unsecured maturities in the next three years. Upon funding of the
recently closed transactions, DDR will have nearly full
availability on its revolving credit facilities, which have a final
maturity in 2016.
Pricing on the Term Loan is set at LIBOR plus a margin that is
determined based upon DDR's long-term unsecured debt ratings. The
Term Loan consists of a $200 million
tranche that initially bears interest at an annual rate of LIBOR
plus 210 basis points and matures on January
31, 2019; and a $50 million
tranche that initially bears interest at an annual rate of LIBOR
plus 170 basis points and matures on January
31, 2017. DDR has entered into interest rate swap contracts
which will fix LIBOR on the $200
million tranche. Based on the Company's current credit
rating, that will result in a total rate of 3.64% for the
$200 million tranche.
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and PNC Capital Markets, LLC acted
as joint lead arrangers for the Term Loan; with Wells Fargo Bank,
National Association as Administration Agent and PNC Bank, National
Association as Syndication Agent. Capital One served as
Documentation Agent. Regions Bank, RBS Citizens, First Tennessee,
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup also participated in the Term Loan.
The Mortgage Loan is a $103
million seven-year loan with Principal Real Estate Investors
LLC and is secured by three prime shopping centers located in
Atlanta, Georgia; Princeton, New Jersey; and San Antonio, Texas. Interest is fixed for the
term at 3.4% and the loan proceeds will be used to pre-fund all of
the Company's consolidated 2012 mortgage maturities.
"We are pleased to announce these new long-term loans that,
combined with our recent equity issuance, address most of our 2012
maturities in the first month of the year. The attractive interest
rate and duration further our goals of lowering our corporate risk
profile and long-term cost of capital," said David J. Oakes, chief financial officer of DDR.
"We very much appreciate the support of our lender group in closing
these significant transactions as we capitalize on the favorable
access to capital and pricing available to us."
About DDR
DDR is an owner and manager of 538 value-oriented shopping
centers representing 134 million square feet in 41 states,
Puerto Rico and Brazil. The company's assets
are concentrated in high barrier-to-entry markets with stable
populations and high growth potential and its portfolio is actively
managed to create long-term shareholder value. DDR is a
self-administered and self-managed REIT operating as a fully
integrated real estate company, and is publicly traded on the New
York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DDR. Additional
information about the company is available at www.ddr.com.
Safe Harbor
DDR considers portions of the information in this press release
to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended, with respect to the
Company's expectation for future periods. Although the Company
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no
assurance that its expectations will be achieved. For this purpose,
any statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be
deemed to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of
important factors that could cause our results to differ materially
from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including,
among other factors, local conditions such as oversupply of space
or a reduction in demand for real estate in the area; competition
from other available space; dependence on rental income from real
property; the loss of, significant downsizing of or bankruptcy of a
major tenant; constructing properties or expansions that produce a
desired yield on investment; our ability to sell assets on
commercially reasonable terms; our ability to secure equity or debt
financing on commercially acceptable terms or at all; our ability
to enter into definitive agreements with regard to our financing
and joint venture arrangements or our failure to satisfy conditions
to the completion of these arrangements; our ability to continue to
pay dividends on our common shares at the current or higher rates;
and the finalization of the financial statements for the
three-month period and year ended December
31, 2011. For additional factors that could cause the
results of the Company to differ materially from those indicated in
the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2010. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly
revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that arise after the date hereof.
SOURCE DDR Corp.