A second major transaction undertaken by Han is the unsecured $978 million sustainability-linked syndicated loan announced in August. This implies that the majority of OUE C-REIT’s debt in 2023 and 2024 has been refinanced in advance, leaving only 12% of borrowings or $283 million to be refinanced in September 2023. As Han tells it, there were three tranches of debt to be refinanced — this year, next year and 2024.
Last November, Han Khim Siew was appointed CEO of OUE Commercial REIT’s (OUE C-REIT) manager before he took up the post in February. If a new broom truly sweeps clean, investors in OUE C-REIT should experience an overall more stable phase for the REIT.
One of the first tasks that Han undertook was the issuance of $150 million five-year 4.2% fixed rate notes. “We tapped the bond market. We launched a $150 million five-year note with a 25 bps stepdown if we get an investment-grade rating. We printed 4.2%. With a 0.25% discount, it [can potentially] go to 3.95%. We caught the timing. After that, the Fed kept pushing rates higher,” Han says in a recent interview. “At that time, the objective was getting the timing right and lower rates.”
