First Industrial taps $450 million facility to retire pricier loans

By Susanna Moon

Chicago, Dec. 14 - First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. said it closed a $450 million three-year senior unsecured revolving credit facility, drawing about $152 million from the facility to retire loans with higher interest rates.

Under the new agreement, payments are interest-only initially at a rate of Libor plus 210 basis points based on leverage, according to a company press release. The unused facility fee is 25 bps to 35 bps.

The facility is due Dec. 12, 2014 with a one-year extension option and has an accordion that allows boosting total commitments to $500 million.

First Industrial tapped about $100 million of debt from the facility to retire a term loan due September 2012 with an interest rate of Libor plus 325 bps and about $52 million to retire the revolving line of credit due September 2012 with a rate of Libor plus 275 bps plus a facility fee of 50 bps.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the lead arrangers and bookrunners. Wells Fargo Bank, NA is the administrative agent. Bank of America, NA is the syndication agent. PNC Bank, NA, U.S. Bank NA and Regions Bank are the documentation agents.

Other lenders include Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Union Bank NA, UBS Loan Finance LLC and Northern Trust Co.

"This facility will help lower our cost of capital and provide capacity and flexibility to manage our debt maturity schedule and fund select growth opportunities," Bruce W. Duncan, president and chief executive officer of First Industrial Realty Trust, said in the release.

Scott Musil, the company's chief financial officer, noted that the facility was upsized from the $400 million level originally targeted.

First Industrial is a Chicago-based owner and operator of industrial real estate and provider of supply chain solutions.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.