September 2014 Issue

Wilson leaves Lloyds Andrew Wilson, Lloyds’ head of the real estate solutions team working out loans, left the bank to set up a UK and Irish work-out, advisory, real estate financing and investment firm. The solutions team is now headed by Joe Green, reporting to Richard Dakin, MD and head of corporate real estate for […]

Urban Exposure is nearing a closing for a private debt fund of around £450m, following its pulled initial public offering in July. The London and south east residential lending specialist cited “the prevailing IPO backdrop” as its reason for aborting its flotation, but Real Estate Capital understands that the targeted investors instead showed a strong […]

With the cost of UK senior debt between 50 to 75 basis points lower today than around this time last year, it’s not surprising that the owners of one of London’s most iconic hotels have arranged a refinancing at a cheaper rate, less than 18 months after the last refinancing. Last month Deutsche Bank was […]

With backing from giant Canadian pension fund OMERS, Oxford Properties seems to be a property company with no great need to run to banks to finance deals. OMERS is due to grow to C$100bn (£55bn) in 2018, so its biggest problem is knowing how and where to allocate its capital. However, Oxford receives its equity […]

As London basked in extra-warm summer sunshine, Real Estate Capital’s UK round table gathered to take the temperature of the UK real estate market. Giving their views were two heavy-duty institutional investors: Cameron Fraser, director of balanced property funds at recently-combined global investment manager TIAA-Henderson Real Estate, and Chris Perkins, head of business space at […]

As one of the leading institutional backers of UK housing, Legal & General has been an enthusiastic investor in everything from housebuilding to student accommodation. Now, the insurer is steadily plugging one important gap in its portfolio: social housing. With little fanfare, over the past 18 months L&G has invested £500m in social and affordable […]

A string of new players are throwing billions at hospitality as the US hotel operating market hits a post-recession peak and they are increasingly looking to CMBS, particularly floating-rate issues, for debt financing. “I expect that we’ll have a tremendously strong end to this year in the hospitality lending space as people look to complete […]

As a population grows, it follows that more housing is needed. So with the number of Americans aged 65 and older expected to at least double by 2030 comes a call for senior housing operators and owners to keep pace. Low borrowing costs have provided the perfect backdrop for them to do so, bringing new […]

US private equity players, Asian capital from mainland China and Middle Eastern investors are all checking into European hotels.

PERE Research and Analytics’ monitoring shows there are 58 real estate debt funds in the market this month, seeking to raise $22bn for the asset class. New entrants include Madison Realty Capital, which is targeting $600m for its third fund investing in US commercial mortgage loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity interests. In Europe, TIAA-Henderson […]

Real Estate Capital market commentary • In July, a club deal led and arranged by ING and including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB and Société Générale provided Europe’s largest loan for some time: a €500m facility to Chelsfield and Olayan Group. The debt will finance their €1.2bn purchase of a prime, nine-asset, retail-led Paris portfolio […]