09 May Mitiska REIM secures €110 million in green loans from KBC Bank
Mitiska REIM, the leading specialist investor in European convenience real estate, has today announced that it has secured €110 million in green loan financing agreements with KBC Bank, in several transactions including €58 million to refinance Malinas retail park and a further €42 million to fund acquisition opportunities in the Netherlands.
Located in Mechelen, Malinas opened in October last year and is the most sustainable retail park in Belgium, designed to be CO2 neutral and to achieve an “Excellent” score on the BREEAM scale. In the Netherlands, Mitiska REIM currently has a portfolio of 3 retail parks, with one so far achieving a “Very Good” BREEAM rating, and has built a solid pipeline of convenience real estate investment opportunities in joint venture with local operating partners. As part of its wider ESG initiatives, Mitiska REIM increased its number of BREEAM In-Use certifications to 45% in 2021 and is on track to increase this to 85% in 2022.
These green loans distinguish themselves from conventional loans by including climate risk elements in the financing frameworks, with the availability of financing now clearly linked to factors such as minimum BREEAM scores, CRREM decarbonization pathways, restriction to build in high-flood risk areas and reporting of energy consumption data. One of the structures also includes a margin pricing grid in relation to the BREEAM score obtained, thus creating a financial incentive to maximize the BREEAM rating.
Commenting on the new green loans, Bert Heyman, CFO at Mitiska REIM, comments: “Securing these green loans is an important milestone in our ESG programme and a clear sign of the opportunity that Mitiska REIM now has to access green loan financing across our convenience real estate investments. At present, a quarter of our debt portfolio is in the form of green loans and our aim is to establish a broader green financing framework in which to increase the number of green loans across the 10 European markets in which we operate.”
Kim Creten, Director at KBC Real Estate, comments: “We are delighted to partner with Mitiska REIM and support them to incorporate sustainability features into their long-term bank financing. Mitiska REIM is a great example of a company that has a strong commitment to ESG and sustainability and can now successfully leverage this in the green loans market.”
Disclaimer: Mitiska REIM and KBC wish to make explicit that terminology such as ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ used in this press release in no way suggests that what is described is already fully aligned to the EU taxonomy.