Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. announced that the Company has closed a new $430 million seven-year unsecured term loan facility. The term loan will mature in November 2026 and has an accordion feature to increase the facility’s availability, subject to certain conditions, up to an aggregate of $500 million. Concurrent with the closing of this transaction, the Company also amended its existing $600 million unsecured credit facility.
Capital One served as joint lead arranger, joint bookrunner and administrative agent for the syndicated financing, which included a total of eight lenders. The term loan will mature in November 2026, and has an accordion feature that will increase the facility’s availability to $500 million, subject to certain conditions.
Additionally, the Company voluntarily prepaid $70.4 million of its Series 2016-1 ABS Notes at par plus accrued interest and cancelled the $200 million of Class A Series 2016-1 ABS Notes that the Company purchased in May.
“The new seven-year term loan facility underscores our ready access to capital and the breadth and commitment of our capital partners,” said Hillary Hai, Chief Financial Officer of Essential Properties. “The redemption and cancellation of our Series 2016-1 ABS Notes will increase our unencumbered asset base, and the unsecured term loan will extend our weighted average debt maturity, which, in combination with our newly assigned investment grade credit rating, bring us closer to our long-term goal of becoming an unsecured issuer of investment grade rated bonds.”
The interest rate on the seven-year unsecured term loan is based on a pricing grid with a range of 150 to 220 basis points over LIBOR, determined by the Company’s leverage ratio. At the Company’s current leverage ratio, the interest rate on any borrowings under the term loan would be approximately 3.203%. The term loan has a delayed funding feature, which allows the Company to borrow the funds when needed on or prior to May 26, 2020. The Company currently has no amounts drawn on the term loan.
Lenders included Capital One, National Association as a Joint Bookrunner and Administrative Agent. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and Mizuho Bank LTD. served as Joint Bookrunners and Co-Syndication Agents. Chemical Bank, a Division of TCF National Bank, served as Documentation Agent. United Bank, First Horizon Bank, Stifel Bank & Trust, and Associated Bank, National Association served as additional lenders.
Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, Essential Properties acquires, owns and manages primarily single-tenant properties leased to middle-market companies operating service-oriented and experience-based businesses. It will use proceeds from the facility for acquisitions, working capital, capital expenditures and repayment of debt.