Spieker Properties Completes New $400 Million Credit Facility

MENLO PARK, CA-Spieker Properties Inc. said Monday afternoon it has replaced its existing line of credit with a new $400 million unsecured facility. The new line, $150 million larger than the old facility, has a three-year term and includes a one-year extension option that can be exercised at the company’s discretion. The rate is LIBOR +70, or 10 basis points lower than the previous facility.

Wells Fargo Bank, as sole lead agent, arranged the syndicate of 11 banks, which included Bank of America as syndication agent and Commerzbank AG as documentation agent. The other participating banks were: Bank One, U.S. Bank, Union Bank of California, Bankers Trust, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, PNC Bank, The Chase Manhattan Bank, and AmSouth Bank.

“In the ever-changing capital marketplace, we believe the additional capacity gives us greater latitude in determining the most appropriate timing to access long-term, fixed rate capital,” said Spieker CFO Stuart Rothstein as part of the announcement. “It meaningfully improves our short-term financing flexibility.”

Spieker Properties is a publicly traded real estate company that owns and operates approximately 40 million square feet of commercial real estate in California and the Pacific Northwest. On Monday, shares of Spieker closed up 62.5 cents to $54.313. In noontime trading Tuesday, the company’s share price was off 12.5 cents to $54.1875 on light volume. The company’s highest share price in the past year, $59.125, was reached on Sept. 15 of this year. It’s low for the past 12 months came in the middle of December 1999, when shares traded for as low as $32.25.