David Hatcher
Deutsche Annington, which has made a €3.9bn offer for its main rival Gagfah, has raised €1bn by issuing a seven-year bond.
The residential company will pay a coupon of 4%. The bonds are BBB- rated.
Merlin Property has secured the largest real estate loan in Spain since the downturn.
The Socimi has agreed an €825m, 10-year loan from a consortium of 10 banks to refinance a portfolio of 880 BBVA bank branches and five BBVA offices known as the Tree portfolio, according to EuroProperty.
Allianz Global Investors has invested £119.7m in the refinancing of a student accommodation project at the University of Exeter in south-west England, writes Real Estate Capital's sister title Infrastructure Investor.
The investment is the first from AllianzGI’s UK Infrastructure Debt Fund which was launched in July this year with a target of up to £500m. According to an AllianzGI statement, it is also the first investment in the student accommodation sector that it has undertaken on behalf of clients.
Deutsche Bank’s €679.9m CMBS – DECO 2014-BONN - has been sold at a margin of 199 basis points. The loan is secured against 29 German offices owned by IVG
Macquarie Lending has arranged a structured £35m stretch senior facility for Victus European Student Accommodation Fund, which owns nine student properties across Europe, according to a statement from the firm.
Cordet, a provider of private debt and alternative funding based in London and Stockholm, partnered with Macquarie to fund a minority portion of the facility.
Canary Wharf Group has won support from a second major shareholder but is not, for now, enough to prompt a sale.
Madison International Realty has accepted the duo’s offer of 350p per share made last Thursday for its 2.5% in Songbird Estates, the listed vehicle which owns 69.37% of Canary Wharf Group.
BREDS co-founder joins Mack’s three-pronged expansion push, reports David Hatcher
When Peter Sotoloff joined Mack Real Estate Group in October to launch its new debt division, it was clear the company meant business.
“We have a vision of a great real estate debt business built on three different types of investing,” says his new employer, Richard Mack. “To do that required finding a superstar and I think we did that by bringing Peter in.”
Sotoloff is a co-founder and former origination head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) and helped build the division into a $9bn-plus business. Mack is part of the dynasty that established fund managers Apollo and Area. Mack Real Estate Group was set up last year after Area was sold to Ares.
Recovery has led to price rises, but investors still see openings, writes David Hatcher
If there has been one market that has captured investors’ imaginations more than any other this year it has been Spain.
Simply labelling the country as distressed is clearly now an oversimplification, as prices have soared, institutional players are outbidding opportunistic buyers and lenders are fighting hand over fist to get a piece of the action.
With yields now dropping to 5% for prime retail assets, those that entered the market early have got great value for their investments and have already seen capital values improve markedly.
Most investors think there is further value to be found and that the Iberian revival is just starting, with Spain’s economy showing its first tangible signs of improvement.
Private equity players and institutions target expanding asset class, reports David Hatcher
Logistics has rarely been seen as the most glamorous of sectors, but with its high yields, technological and infrastructure advancements and the growth in e-commerce, some of the world’s largest investors have been deploying huge sums into the sector in Europe.
Private equity investors are competing aggressively to build new platforms, looking to create value through economies of scale with the view to floating businesses later.
Blackstone has been building up its Logicor portfolio, P3 has been fuelled by new backers TPG and Ivanhoe Cambridge, while Gazeley has been active under the ownership of Brookfield.
Institutional players also continue to target these assets, in combination with sovereign wealth funds. Segro has linked up with giant Canadian pension fund PSP and Prologis has been given extra impetus through its tie-up with Norges.
Wheatley Group, Scotland’s largest housing, care and regeneration organisation, has tapped the capital markets for £250m, in what is the first time a Scottish housing association has raised finance through the issue of a public bond on the capital markets, writes Real Estate Capital's sister magazine Private Debt Investor.