Ambitious plans to transform Edinburgh’s campuses will be enhanced by a £200m loan from the European Investment Bank.
The loan, together with £100m from a US investment fund, will provide £300m of new investment capacity to support a range of building and refurbishment projects over the next 10 years.
The loan agreement, signed by Edinburgh Principal Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea and European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice President Jonathan Taylor, will allow the University to step up its £1.5bn building programme.
Projects in the 10-year plan include a new home for the School of Biological Sciences, the creation of a Data Technology Institute – part of the Alan Turing Institute – and a refurbishment of the historic School of Law at Old College.
The plan also includes a redevelopment of the landmark McEwan Hall – transforming the iconic home of University graduation ceremonies into a combined ceremonial and conferencing facility.
As well as securing the EIB loan, the University has raised a further £100m of funding through a self-arranged private placement with the assistance and advice of professional advisers Ernst and Young.
Both deals have seen the University secure funding for up to 30 years at historically low levels, with a flexible repayment schedule and an average cost of borrowing of less than three per cent.
The remaining £1.2bn of the funding for the programme will be raised through capital grants, historic and new fundraising and annual surpluses for investment generated by the University.
