Macquarie AM finances over $1bn to support social housing in France

Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) has provided an additional $164 million (€100m) to social housing provider Vilogia in France, bringing its total financing to $1.05 billion (€639m).

Since 2022, MAM has supported Vilogia's long-term plans of addressing shortages of quality affordable housing across 14 facilities in France, with bullet maturities ranging between 13 and 43 years.

Vilogia operates some 87,000 homes dedicated to social or affordable housing for more than 190,000 residents across Paris, Lille, Nancy, Metz, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Nantes.

MAM senior vice president Alexis Chiesa said the long-term financing solutions will help ease France's social housing needs.

"As the largest producer of social housing in the European Union, France relies on key operators such as Vilogia to expand access to affordable housing and help build more inclusive communities," Chiesa said.

"By providing stable, long-term capital, this funding supports the resilience and growth of the social housing sector while aligning with the strategic objectives of our European and UK institutional investors."

Meanwhile, Vilogia chief financial officer Stéphane Ganeman-Valot said she is delighted to deepen its partnership with MAM.

"Its long-term approach aligns with the perpetual nature of our assets and complements our other sources of funding, and its bespoke funding with various rates and maturity profiles is valuable in a volatile economic environment," she said.

"Macquarie is helping us to expand and upgrade our portfolio so we can provide more quality homes to the community."

Vilogia has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with France's national climate objectives, and is on track to achieving its target of a minimum EPC rating of D across its entire housing portfolio by 2034.