REG - Helical PLC - £220m loan for Paddington office development

HelicalAnnouncement

Yesterday 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260212:nRSL6703Sa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6703S  Helical PLC  12 February 2026

12 February 2026

 

HELICAL PLC

("Helical" or the "Company")

 

HELICAL AND PLACES FOR LONDON SECURE £220 MILLION LOAN FOR PADDINGTON
OVERSTATION OFFICE DEVELOPMENT

 

Helical plc and Places for London, Transport for London's property company
(together the "joint venture"), have entered into a £220 million development
financing facility with PIMCO Prime Real Estate, acting on behalf of
institutional investors, to fund the acquisition and delivery of the
Paddington Over Station Development ("OSD"). The loan has been secured ahead
of the acquisition of the site on 25 February 2026 for £55.0m (Helical's
share: £28.1m), from Places for London. Paddington OSD is the second of three
initial sites to be acquired by the joint venture following Helical's
successful bid to be Places for London's commercial development partner.

The 4.5 year pari passu development facility contains margin step-downs linked
to the achievement of development and letting milestones, as well as a
one-year extension option. It will reimburse 54.5% of the equity already
invested in the project, including for the site acquisition, and fund 54.5% of
the remaining development and finance costs.

Paddington OSD is a landmark 235,000 sq ft new‑build office development
positioned directly above the northern entrance to Paddington station,
adjacent to and overlooking the Grand Union Canal. Once complete, it will
offer exceptional transport connectivity with immediate access to the
Elizabeth Line, London Underground and National Rail services, while also
contributing to the continued transformation of the wider Paddington
regeneration area.

Designed by Grimshaw, the building will total 15 floors of best‑in‑class
office accommodation, each benefitting from full‑height glazing, panoramic
views across London and private south‑facing terraces. Floorplates of 15,675
sq ft with minimal columns offer efficient, flexible space for a broad range
of occupiers.

The joint venture has placed sustainability and occupier experience at the
core of its designs at Paddington. The scheme has achieved BREEAM Outstanding
at the design stage with a score of 97.4%. It is also targeting WELL Shell
& Core Platinum, EPC A, and a NABERS 5.5* rating.

Having commenced enabling works in June 2025, the joint venture is now in
advanced negotiations with the prospective main contractor and anticipates
placing the contract in March 2026. Main works will commence in Q2 2026 with
practical completion targeted in Q3 2028. Helical will be subject to minimum
net asset requirements, both under the facility agreement and as part of the
works agreement with Transport for London, as governed by the joint venture
terms with Places for London. Paddington OSD will be delivered into a highly
constrained office market and is ideally positioned to meet the growing demand
from occupiers for modern, sustainable, design‑led workspace, in what is one
of London's most accessible locations.

James Moss, Chief Financial Officer, Helical plc, said:

"The progress made on the Paddington OSD bolsters our pipeline of prime London
developments and maintains the momentum we have built up through our
partnership with Places for London. Successfully closing the financing, which
is accretive to returns, follows the financing of 10 King William Street last
year. It further demonstrates the strong lender confidence in the joint
venture and its strategy and supports our long‑term conviction in the
ongoing demand for high‑quality office space in central London."

Digby Nicklin, Chief Financial Officer, Places for London added:

"We are delighted to be working with PIMCO Prime Real Estate, acting on behalf
of institutional investors, on this well-structured debt facility agreement
which will help bring this development to life. Great developments like this
are key to our wider Places for Growth pledge - growing long-term income for
Transport for London that can be invested into the public transport network,
bringing improvement and growth to the capital.

"Together with Helical, we are looking forward to seeing this new,
high-quality office space take shape in Paddington, one of the best-connected
parts of London."

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Helical plc
 Matthew Bonning-Snook (CEO)  Address:     22 Ganton Street, London, W1F 7FD

 James Moss (CFO)             Website:     www.helical.co.uk (http://www.helical.co.uk/)

                              Tel:               020 7629 0113

 FTI Consulting
 Dido Laurimore               Email:           Schelical@fticonsulting.com

                            (mailto:Schelical@fticonsulting.com)
 Richard Gotla

                            Tel:               020 3727 1000
 Andrew Davis

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCVFLFFQLLXBBB



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved