Big Yellow Group turns to Aviva for £100m loan The loan to Big Yellow Group is thought to be the first by an insurance company to the self-storage sector and is further evidence of how companies are bypassing banks to secure finance. Insurance groups and fund managers are increasingly looking to raise debt funds to fill the funding gap left by banks retreating from new lending. BlackRock, the US fund manager, is understood to have hired leading UBS banker Edward Cook to head up its new capital markets team in London, a sign that it is moving into directly providing finance. Already in 2012 Aviva has backed the £282.5m acquisition of London landmark Tower 42 by South African investor Nathan Kirsh with a £145m loan, and provided debt to FTSE 250 West End property owner Shaftesbury. John Trotman, chief financial officer of Big Yellow, said: "We are delighted to have arranged this new loan with Aviva, which provides a stable core of long-term financing for the group from a new debt provider to the business." The company, which operates 65 self-storage centres in the UK, will use the loan to pay off £100m of a bank facility. This will reduce bank debt to £225m. However, paying off the debt involves the cancellation of £100m of interest rate swaps, which will cost Big Yellow £9.2m. The loan from Aviva will mature in April 2027 and has a fixed interest rate of 4.9pc. The bank debt Big Yellow will pay off was costing 4.8pc per year. Mr Trotman said the company will now enter discussions with lenders about refinancing the rest of its bank debt, which matures in September 2013 Shares in Big Yellow rose by 9.80, or 3.5pc, to 290.8p on Thursday. Harm Meijer, analyst at JP Morgan, said: "We believe the loan should be seen as a strong signal of confidence to Big Yellow's business."