Highwoods secures new $200 million term loan

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RALEIGH, North Carolina, Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) secured a two-year, $200.0 million unsecured term bank loan which is expected to mature in October 2024. Assuming no default has occurred, the Company has the option to extend the maturity an additional year. The Company expects to use the additional borrowings of $200 million for working capital, short-term financing of our development and acquisition activities and the repayment of other debt.

The interest rate on the new term loan is SOFR plus an associated spread adjustment of 10 basis points and a borrowing spread of 95 basis points. The loan spread will be reduced by one basis point provided that Highwoods achieves certain sustainability goals with respect to the continued reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Ted Klinck, President and CEO of Highwoods Properties, said: “We appreciate the confidence shown in Highwoods by our banking group. We have now secured $550 million in term loans in 2022. The support and partnership of our banking group has provided us with the financial capacity to pursue our strategic objectives while preserving our financial flexibility.

BofA Securities, Inc., PNC Capital Markets LLC, Truist Securities, Inc. and the US Bank National Association acted as co-lead arrangers on the new term loan, along with BofA Securities, Inc. and PNC Capital Markets LLC as joint bookrunners. Bank of America, NA is the administrative agent and PNC Bank, National Association is the syndication agent. Truist Bank and US Bank National Association served as co-documentation agents. Regions Bank and TD Bank, NA acted as joint managing agents.

About HighwoodsHighwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) (NYSE: HIW) and member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. company that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. For more information on Highwoods, please visit our website at www.highwoods.com.

Forward-looking statementsSome of the information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies and outlook such as the following: planned sales of non-core assets and expected prices and impact in relation to such sales, including the tax impact of these sales; expected financial and operating results and related assumptions underlying our expected results, including, but not limited to, potential losses related to customer difficulties, expected building use and economic activity scheduled due to COVID-19; the continued ability to borrow under the Company’s revolving credit facility; the expected total investment, projected leasing activity, estimated replacement cost and expected net operating income of properties acquired and properties to be developed; and the expected future leverage of the Company. You can identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terms such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “continue” or other similar words. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected or implied by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our plans, intentions or expectations will be realized.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Highwoods’ current expectations include, but are not limited to, the following: buyers may not be available and prices may not be adequate in relation to anticipated asset disposals non-essential; comparable sales data on which we have based our expectations regarding the sale price of non-core assets may not reflect current market trends; the extent to which the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affects our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows depends on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the extent, the severity and duration of the pandemic and its impact on the US economy and potential changes in customer behavior that could adversely affect the use of and demand for office space; the financial condition of our customers could deteriorate or worsen further, which could be further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; our assumptions regarding potential losses related to customer financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic may prove to be incorrect; counterparties under our debt securities, in particular our revolving credit facility, may attempt to avoid their obligations thereunder, which, if successful, would reduce our available cash; we may not be able to lease or re-let second-generation space, defined as previously occupied space that becomes available for rental, quickly or on terms as favorable as previous leases; we may not be able to lease newly constructed properties as quickly or on as favorable terms as originally anticipated; we may not be able to complete development, acquisition, reinvestment, divestiture or joint venture projects as quickly or on as favorable terms as anticipated; development activity in our existing markets could result in excess supply relative to customer demand; our markets may experience declines in economic growth and/or office employment; unexpected increases in interest rates could increase our debt servicing costs; unexpected increases in operating expenses could adversely affect our results of operations; natural disasters and climate change could negatively impact our cash flow and results of operations; we may not be able to meet our cash requirements or obtain capital on favorable terms to fund our working capital needs and growth initiatives or repay or refinance outstanding indebtedness to deadline ; and the Company could lose key executives.

However, this list of risks and uncertainties is not intended to be exhaustive. You should also review the other caveats we make in the “Risk Factors” section set out in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseen events.

Source: Highwoods Properties, Inc.