Penningtons Manches Cooper advises Bernicia on £100 million financing facility
Penningtons Manches Cooper has advised Bernicia, a leading North East housing association, on a new £100 million loan facility with Barclays Bank, and the refinancing of an existing £20 million revolving credit facility, supporting Bernicia’s ambition to deliver up to 1,000 new affordable homes across the region.
The transaction was structured across two tranches – one seven-year and one 10-year – delivering highly competitive pricing for both tenors. Alongside the new loan facilities, a loan-linked ISDA was put in place to manage interest rate exposure. The deal follows a comprehensive competitive process which attracted strong appetite from multiple lenders, with Barclays emerging as the preferred counterparty.
Bernicia manages over 14,000 rented properties across the North East of England and has a strong track record of investment in both housing and community outcomes. The new funding will underpin delivery of Bernicia’s five-year corporate strategy, ‘The Bernicia Effect: Supporting Opportunity’, through which the association plans to invest £400 million in new and existing homes and in the communities it serves across the North East.
The Penningtons Manches Cooper team advising Bernicia was led by Naomi Roper, a partner in the firm’s banking and finance team with a particular specialism in social housing finance, who was assisted by associate Samantha Akaki. Naomi is recognised by Legal 500 as a leading partner in this field and has decades of experience advising registered providers across all forms of financing, capital markets transactions, and derivatives.
Naomi commented: “This is a significant transaction for Bernicia and a strong reflection of the confidence lenders have in the organisation and its strategic direction. Securing well-priced, well-structured facilities across two tenors, alongside the associated hedging arrangements, gives Bernicia the financial platform it needs to drive real impact in the North East. It was a privilege to support the team on this deal.”