Paul Yandall
pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided IFM Immobilien with a €58m mid-term development loan to start building a new city quarter in Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt.
The latest deal is pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank’s ninth in the past month alone with the total provided nearing €1.5bn. The German bank, which is for sale, reported an 8% rise in lending during Q1 2015.
TH Real Estate is providing a £52m loan to Grainmarket Properties for the refinancing of a portfolio of 10 office and retail buildings in London and the South East.
The six-year facility has a loan-to-value of 75% and comprises a floating rate senior loan and a fixed rate junior component. The new facility replaces a loan from HSBC.
Partners Group has backed a £200m speculative development scheme at 80 Fenchurch Street in the City of London.
The Swiss-headquartered investment manager said it would develop a Grade A office building on the site with its joint venture development partner Marick Real Estate. The total project cost is expected to be £200m.
HSH Nordbank is financing Tristan Capital’s and FREO Group’s €110m joint purchase of the Barthonia Forum in Cologne with a €91m five-year loan.
It is HSH Nordbank’s second significant loan in the past month to Tristan. The bank backed Tristan’s purchase of a Karstadt department store in Munich with a €130m five-year loan in late April.
Secure Trust Bank has expanded its recently formed real estate finance team after it lent £135m in its first four months.
The AIM-listed challenger bank has appointed Derek Bradstock to head its new South and Midlands team while David Cunningham is to oversee the new North division.
New lending to commercial property increased by over 50% in 2014 almost recovering to pre-crash levels as alternative lenders entered the market in record numbers.
The De Montfort Commercial Property Lending Report showed loan originations leaping from £29.9bn in 2013 to £45.2bn last year, the highest figure since 2008's £49.8bn.
ICG-Longbow invested more than £365m in 18 transactions in the first three months of 2015.
The firm also completed the investment of its two funds, the £700m 2013 UK Real Estate Debt Investment III and the £400m 2014 Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments.
Santander is selling a €170m portfolio of hotel loans, Project Formentera.
The loans are backed by 17 properties located across Spain. Twelve of the 17 hotels are in the southern city of Valencia and tourist hotspot the Canary Islands.
ICG-Longbow’s Fund IV has reached a first close of £364m with £50m coming from its balance sheet and further closes expected in the year ahead, according to parent company Intermediate Capital Group’s annual results to 31 March 2015.
Total real estate funds under management grew 112% to €2.7bn. ICG raised another £500m for its real estate senior debt strategy taking the total amount to deploy to £650m. It also signed a £202m mandate to invest in UK real estate development.
Land Securities increased its debt by £470m to £3.8bn last year but an increase in portfolio valuation by £2bn to £14bn reduced its group LTV from 32.5% to 28.5%.
The UK REIT said said in its annual report to 31 March 2015 that the result was consistent with its strategy at this stage in the property cycle of allowing gearing to decline as property values rise.