Allia C&C has arranged a new issue of Tier 2 capital for Saffron Building Society – the first publicly listed Tier 2 issue for a UK mid-sized building society.

Founded in 1849, the building society is headquartered in Saffron Walden, Essex and has eight branches servicing the East of England, offering a range of savings and mortgage products. Saffron is owned by its members and operates for their benefit and the wider regional community it serves. It is regulated by the PRA and the FCA.

At the last year end of 31 December 2023, Saffron was strongly capitalised with £86.5m of regulatory capital to support its operations, a ratio of 15.0%. The issue of £15m Tier 2 debt allows it to retire a legacy private placement for £10m that qualified as Tier 2 debt and to meet its ambitions for further growth.

Allia C&C was mandated to arrange the transaction, which represents the first publicly listed Tier 2 issue for a mid-sized building society in the UK. This builds on Allia C&C’s experience in managing the CCDS issue for Ecology Building Society.

The issue demonstrates the strong demand for capital issues by building societies with a regional or specialist focus. Saffron issued £15 million of 12.5% Tier 2 bonds with a final maturity of 10.5 years and a non-call period of 5.5 years.

The issue is listed on The International Stock Exchange in Guernsey. £11 million of the bonds were sold to a range of institutional investors, wealth managers, family offices and high net worth individuals; £4 million have been retained for sale as additional capital is required.

Maurice Mills, Chief Financial Officer at Saffron Building Society, said:

“This transaction provides the Society with its desired level of regulatory capital, allowing the Society to continue its managed growth strategy while supporting the investment into technology and change projects. We were delighted with the engagement with the Allia C&C team and thank them for their support!”

Ben Hall, Director Debt Capital Markets at Allia C&C, said:

“Building societies like Saffron play a hugely important role in providing financial services to local communities. We were delighted to use the strength of our connections to identify a range of interested investors and provide Saffron with the funding that will support its continued growth.”

Allia C&C provides advisory and arranging services to a wide range of borrowers, from charities to commercial businesses and public sector bodies alongside intelligence and brokerage services for investors. It works hard to find the optimum solution for each client across a range of different sectors.

Notes:

Allia C&C is a leading responsible finance intermediary. It is owned by UK charity Allia, which has been a pioneer in social investment innovation since 1999. With offices in London, Cambridge and Glasgow, Allia C&C offers a full range of advisory and arranging services to borrowers alongside intelligence and brokerage services for investors.

Allia C&C’s focus and expertise is connecting investors with organisations making a positive social impact – whether as their core purposes, like charities and social enterprises, or as part of a strong commitment to being a responsible business.

For press and media enquiries, please contact:

Laura Rose
Group Head of Marketing & Communications, Allia
laura.rose@allia.org.uk
01223 781322

For Allia C&C and its services, please contact:
dcm@alliacc.com
020 3039 3445