Nationwide Building Society today (Thursday) won investor approval to switch the coupon basis of a £750m January 2026 fixed rate covered bond’s soft bullet extension period from Libor to Sonia, in the first such consent solicitation, as the proposal won unanimous support from investors who voted.

The UK issuer announced on 16 October that it was seeking to make the switch, and a bondholder meeting was held today, alongside a vote on switching the coupon basis for a £1bn April 2023 floating rate note. Lloyds had on 7 October won overwhelming support for the first such switch on any covered bond, for a £1bn March 2023 FRN, but the vote on amending the terms of the soft bullet extension period of Nationwide’s fixed rate deal was a first.

According to a notice from the building society, holders representing 70.43% of the £750m (€872m) fixed rate issue submitted votes and all of these were in favour of the switch. The proposed FRN switch also saw 100% of votes in favour, with holders representing 77.14% of the outstanding principal amount participating.

The 70.43% participation rate in the soft bullet’s meeting compares with a two-thirds quorum required to avoid moving to an adjourned meeting.

When announcing the consent solicitations, Nationwide said it was “exploring the potential transition” to Sonia of its remaining Libor-linked covered bonds, three issues totalling £250m.