Cromwell has announced the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF) received a 2020 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) score of 72, an increase of 29 points since first reporting in 2014.

Cromwell’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Phil Cowling, commented, “Cromwell’s ongoing commitment is to reduce the environmental impact of our funds and operations and continually improve the sustainability performance of our owned and managed assets.”

“A 29-point increase in CPRF’s GRESB score since 2014 is a great testament to the hard work of our Polish team,” he added.

CPRF contains seven catchment-dominating shopping centres. In August 2019, Cromwell opened the newest section of Janki Shopping Centre in Warsaw, following the completion of a major €65 million (A$110 million) refurbishment which added 21,000 sqm of gross lettable area.

Karol Pilniewicz, Head of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) added, “It is wonderful to see CPRF continue to receive recognition for its ESG performance, after recently celebrating Janki Shopping Centre’s transformation winning the gold award at the ‘Retail Scheme’s Redevelopment / Extension / Modernisation of the Year’ category at the 11th Annual Polish Council of Shopping Centres Retail Awards.”

In CEE, Cromwell has 45 real estate professionals on the ground, managing 21 assets with 639 tenant-customers and over 749,000 sqm of space.

For more information on CPRF performance please visit www.cromwellpropertygroup.com/sustainability/performance to access the 2020 GRESB scorecard.

About GRESB

Launched in 2009, GRESB is an investor-driven global ESG benchmark and reporting framework for listed property companies, private property funds, developers and investors that invest directly in real estate.

Participation in the 2020 assessment grew 22% amid accelerating investor demand for ESG data, now covering 1,229 portfolios (2019: 1,005) worth more than US$4.8 trillion AUM. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, this increase in participation demonstrates the real estate industry continues to respond decisively to the accelerating investor demand for quality and comparable ESG data.

GRESB measures and ranks public disclosure practices of participating listed entities on an annual basis. Categories assessed include sustainability governance, sustainability implementation, operational performance and stakeholder engagement practices.

Real estate investor and manager, Cromwell Property Group (Cromwell) has today officially confirmed Pontus Flemme Gärdsell in the role of Head of Nordics, having been Interim Head since the beginning of 2020.

During the year, Pontus successfully managed Cromwell’s initial COVID-19 response in the region while also further increasing the depth and experience of the local team. This has included the recent arrivals of Sofia Sandh and Rickard Slagbrand to the roles of Investment Manager and Transaction Manager respectively.

Pontus joined Cromwell in 2011 as Group Accountant for Sweden and became Head of Finance for Sweden just over two years later. He was then appointed Head of Finance for the entire Nordics region in early-2017.

Mark McLaughlin, Managing Director, Europe, commented, “Pontus has an in-depth knowledge of the Nordic real estate industry combined with nearly ten years’ worth of experience with Cromwell.”

“His promotion, and the other additional hires we have made, are all in direct accordance with our broader ambitions to grow assets under management in the region.”

Pontus Flemme Gärdsell added, “Cromwell has managed a significant number of assets in the Nordic region for a variety of different investors over the last decade. We have also since demonstrated our ability to execute our investment and asset management initiatives, even during difficult circumstances like the current COVID-19 pandemic.”

“I’m excited about the role, new additions to the already strong team and the opportunities that lie ahead,” he concluded.

Pontus holds a Master of Business and Economics from Lund University. Prior to joining Cromwell, he worked at Deloitte for five years.

In the Nordics region, Cromwell has offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Malmo and Stockholm and, as at 30 June 2020, managed 46 office, retail and industrial/logistics assets let to 873 tenant-customers and covering over 329,000 sqm.

Real estate investor and manager, Cromwell Property Group, has appointed Candice Villa as Head of Asset Management, France, on a permanent basis. She has held the role on an interim basis since April of this year.

Candice will be responsible for all of Cromwell’s Asset Management activities in France covering 23 assets, comprising more than 313,000 sqm and nearly 250 tenant-customers.

Andrew Stacey, President of Cromwell France commented, “I am delighted that Candice has agreed to take on the role, after stepping in seamlessly on an interim basis, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Candice has utilised her skills, expertise and resilience to work closely with our tenant-customers during these challenging times. We have been active, recently signing a lease renewal for a major postal and logistic company and will shortly be on-boarding a Parisian CBD office building, acquired for a new capital partner.”

“We have a busy pipeline of activity ahead and it’s great to have Candice in the role permanently,” he added.

Candice joined Cromwell in 2018 as a Senior Asset Manager and has a decade of experience in the asset management of office, light industrial and logistics assets. She has been responsible for delivering and implementing business plans for the properties within her portfolio, securing and improving incoming flows, overseeing small and large scale end-to-end refurbishment works as well as managing acquisition and disposals.

Candice holds a Masters’ degree in Finance and Engineering of Real Estate.

Real estate investor and manager, Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) (Cromwell), has assisted Cromwell EREIT Management Pte. Ltd., the Manager of Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT), to price an offering of €300 million five-year senior unsecured notes due November 2025 at a coupon of 2.125% and a reoffer yield of 2.161% via CEREIT’s wholly-owned subsidiary Cromwell EREIT Lux Finco S.à r.l.

Cromwell’s Head of Treasury, Brett Hinton, commented, “It is great to see Cromwell’s integrated, full service platform drive a major capital transformation for the benefit of CEREIT’s unitholders.”

“Following the successful raise of €625 million in unsecured debt in November 2019, this is another example of the tailored treasury solutions we can provide with experienced colleagues working across three continents and multiple jurisdictions.”

“The London-based European Treasury team, led by Gwendal Kalkofen, continues to leverage Cromwell’s strong global banking and investor relationships to bring true value-adding solutions to our customers,” he concluded.

Issued under CEREIT’s recently-established €1.5 billion Euro Medium Term Note Programme, the Notes are expected to be issued on 19 November 2020 and dual listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Following the transaction, CEREIT’s weighted average debt maturity profile will be extended from 2.6 years to 3.9 years, with no major maturities due until November 2022. CEREIT will, in turn, have 90% of its debt unsecured.

The Manager’s CEO, Simon Garing, added, “I am very pleased with the strong demand from global credit investors in our inaugural debt capital market transaction. The positive investor feedback and widespread support we have received is an endorsement of Cromwell’s integrated European platform, treasury management capabilities, as well as recognised corporate governance and risk management processes.”

“As a result of our responsible capital management approach, CEREIT is now in a stronger financial position, with no further debt expiring for two years and a much-improved weighted average debt maturity profile, all underpinned by CEREIT’s recent ‘BBB’ investment-grade Fitch¹ rating.”

The notes issuance follows the recent establishment of a four year, €135-million unsecured revolving credit facility with an accordion increase option of a further €65 million, providing undrawn facilities amounting to €235 million.

Morgan Stanley acted as the sole bookrunner for the notes. Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited acted as the Ratings Advisor.

_{1. Fitch Ratings Singapore Pte Ltd.}