Big money gives boost to Westfield

SYDNEY - The price of shares in the Westfield Group climbed yesterday after the property giant said it had achieved the largest syndicated loan in the Australian market.

Westfield shares jumped 1.5 per cent after the shopping centre group announced it had closed a US$4 billion ($5.6 billion) global syndicated facility which was launched at US$2.5 billion.

It said the syndication had received overwhelming support from local and international banks, resulting in a substantial oversubscription and upscaling of the facility amount.

Chief financial officer Peter Allen said the facility would be used to refinance the group's existing debt and for general purposes.

"This is a benchmark deal for Westfield which, following the recent success in the US bond market, demonstrates the benefits of the recent merger in enabling increased access to the international debt capital markets," he said.

During the year, three Westfield trusts were merged into the international Westfield Group, creating Australia's largest listed property vehicle.

The merger would make the group better placed to finance its A$8 billion of development plans and fund acquisitions in the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Westfield shares rose 25c to A$16.57, closing up 18c at A$16.50.

Macquarie Equities associate director Martin Lakos said shareholders bought the stock on the news.

"It's clearly a vote of confidence in the group's financial health," he said.

"It was oversubscribed by the syndicated banks, so that's obviously a pretty positive thing."

Westfield said a group of its existing relationship banks, with new lenders, had committed to the facility, enhancing Westfield's depth of credit providers and providing significant flexibility for funding. Westfield is borrowing two-thirds of the loan for five years and the rest for three years.

- AAP, BLOOMBERG