Centrus appointed by Rooftop on £50m fundraise from bLEND Funding PLC

Transaction Overview

Rooftop Housing Group provides affordable housing for all household types and needs across the Midlands and the South West, this includes those in social and affordable housing need, key worker homes for hospital staff, private rental properties and care and support services to young and older people. Formed in 1994, Rooftop has helped people in housing need get a safe, secure, and appropriate home. Rooftop provides 7,000 homes in South Worcestershire and North Gloucestershire.

Centrus was initially engaged in late 2019 to undertake a strategic review of Rooftop’s treasury portfolio, which included identifying the likely sources of future funding. Subsequently in August 2020 having been appointed as retained advisor and Private Placement advisor, following a tender and selection process, Centrus proactively engaged with Rooftop to set out the case for bLEND providing an alternative to the previously intended Private Placement strategy.

Having considered the pros and cons of each option as well as the targeted timeline for completion and in the context of our shadow credit rating analysis and views around increasing market volatility, Centrus’ clear advice was to proceed with bLEND. Following Board approval, Centrus worked with Rooftop through the process of obtaining £50m of funding from bLEND 2054, of which £30m was spot (at 2.09%) and £20m deferred for 12 months (2.24%). This represents an excellent outcome, delivered in record time of 6 weeks as a result of excellent team work between Rooftop, Centrus and THFC.

“Since appointing Centrus as our retained advisor and Private Placement advisor, we have been extremely pleased with their very clear advice, guidance and professionalism. Paul Stevens and the team have worked closely with us on bLEND and have supported us through the whole process, including obtaining a private Moody’s credit rating, in an incredibly short time frame. The new funding, especially at such low rates of interest, is an excellent outcome for Rooftop that will support our development programme to build 1,000 new homes by 2023.”

Caroline Dykes, Finance Director – Rooftop Housing Group

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