KPMG CF supports UCL with 150 million credit line

27 March 2015 Consultancy.uk

University College London (UCL) has received a new £150 million revolving credit facility from a consortium of UK banks. The academic institution was advised by KPMG Capital Advisory Group, KPMG’s practice that supports clients with debt and equity capital.

With an intake of approximately 36,000 students this academic year (2014/15) University College London (UCL) is one of UK’s largest universities. UCL was founded in 1826 (originally as London University) and currently operates with 11 faculties in the UK, as well as satellite campuses in Adelaide, Australia and Doha, Qatar.

University College London

In line with its ambitious strategic vision ‘UCL 2034’, the university has set bold plans to boost its reputation and facilities, with the aim of securing a position as a “world leading centre of learning, research and innovation”. As part of the plans, UCL is refurbishing and upgrading its Bloomsbury campus (its main location based in central London) as well as establishing UCL East - a major new higher education and cultural hub in East London at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. To fund the expansion, UCL attracted a £150 million credit line from four banks: HSBC alongside Barclays, Lloyds and RBS.

During the transaction UCL was advised by KPMG’s Capital Advisory Group, one of the service lines within the Big Four’s Corporate Finance practice. The unit comprises of 100+ professionals that support clients with debt capital raising processes, from initial strategy to implementation and on day-to-day stakeholder management. Led by Tim Metzgen, a Director at KPMG, the team advised UCL on its financing strategy, and supported the university with the negotiation phase. Other team members included Marc Finer and Sam Andrews.

Phil Harding, Director of Finance at UCL, says: " Getting the right finance package in place is vital to the future of such an ambitious project (UCL 2034, ed.) and could not have been achieved without the support of the team at KPMG and our banking partners. We are now looking to the future with confidence as we drive forward the development of UCL.”

Tim Metzgen, Marc Finer, Sam Andrews and Phil Harding

“We are delighted to have advised UCL, ranked among the world’s top universities, on a facility that will complement and support its exciting strategic vision for the future.  This facility and the relationships with these key lenders to the sector will put the university in a great position to implement and develop its 2034 vision and its leading position at the forefront of innovation in higher education”, comments Metzgen.

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