HME REIT Adds, Extends Unsecured Credit

ROCHESTER, NY-Multifamily REIT Home Properties Inc. said Thursday it had increased its revolving credit line to $450 million from $275 million, and had also extended the maturity date on the unsecured credit line from 2015 to 2017. Additionally, locally based HME said it had extended its existing $250-million term loan until August 18, 2018 from Dec. 8, 2016.

“There was a very high level of interest in participating in the increased credit facility,” says David P. Gardner, HME's EVP and CFO. “We were very pleased that all the participants in the original line raised the amount of their commitment. The additional liquidity enhances our financial flexibility and ability to use unsecured, rather than secured, debt for business needs, further strengthening the company's credit profile.”

Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. and U.S. Bank National Association are the joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, and M&TT will continue to act as administrative agent. There are nine additional lenders on the credit: RBS Citizens, Bank of America, Capital One, PNC Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Wells Fargo Bank, Branch Banking and Trust Co. and First Niagara Bank.

Following a second quarter that saw funds from operations at the high end of the REIT's expectations, HME last month closed on a public offering of 4.4 million shares of its common stock at $63 apiece, including 577,500 shares issued in accordance with the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares. Net proceeds of the sale were approximately $267.6 million.

HME currently owns 118 apartment communities totaling 41,967 units. They're located primarily in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including several properties in the New York City metropolitan area.