Paul Yandall
Commerzbank plans to sell another €6.5bn of commercial real estate debt by the end of next year after reducing its loan book by 17% this week.
The German bank will begin further reductions next year to its current €14.5bn commercial property loan book and expects to have it down to about €8bn by the end of 2016.
Indian developer Sobha Group and investment manager RootCorp have launched a new fund targeting real estate assets, development debt and project equity in India.
The India Debt and Yield Opportunities Fund is aiming to raise $300m and will target a return of 20%.
Major investors holding out on investments until November’s general election are causing an outcry from certain Spanish investment agents.
Business processes outsourcing firm Capita is to buy Vertex Mortgage Services for £35m.
The deal, which is subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority, is to be made on a cash free, debt free basis.
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) has closed its £300m debut senior unsecured bond with a 3.35% coupon.
The seven-year bond, rated BBB by Standard & Poor’s, has an annual fixed coupon of 3.95%. The coupon was effectively reduced to 3.35%, 10 bps lower than expected, as a result of KWE entering into swap arrangements to convert 50% of the proceeds into euros.
European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines have come under fire from the property industry, fearful they could limit how much banks could lend to real estate funds.
In a joint statement issued by a number of European property associations, including The British Property Federation (BPF) and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) Europe, they said the draft guidelines would classify alternative investment funds, including real estate funds, as shadow banks and subject them to lending limits.
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s Madeleine McDougall will become CREFC Europe's next chairman.
McDougall will begin her one-year term on 9 November 2015, the first day of CREFC Europe’s Autumn Conference.
US investor NorthStar Realty is raising a $300m warchest for its European subsidiary which it plans to float later this year.
NorthStar Realty Europe, has launched the $300m private offering of senior stock-settlable notes, a kind of convertible bond.
Kennedy Wilson Europe has launched a £300m senior unsecured bond in its first ever issue.
The seven-year bond, rated BBB by Standard & Poor’s, has an annual fixed coupon 3.95%. The coupon is expected to reduce to around 3.45% upon KWE entering into swap arrangements to convert a portion of the proceeds into euros.
Wells Fargo has provided a £120m five-year investment loan to King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership on the developer's One and Two Pancras Square office buildings.
The facility converts a £72m, five-year development loan originally made in 2012 by Eurohypo, before it was taken over by Wells Fargo. The first loan was a rare example at the time of speculative development finance, with an initial margin of 450bps and around 50% loan-to-cost.