HILCO DELIVERS £17M BRIDGING LOAN TO RELEASE EQUITY IN LONDON APARTMENT AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Fast-growing specialist bridge lender Hilco Real Estate Finance (HREF) has closed a £17.1m loan to a London-based property developer to release capital from a mixed development of high quality apartments and a commercial unit in the capital.

The loan, which was delivered at a 64% loan to value with a one-year term, has enabled the borrower to buy out equity partners and enables the developer to complete the sale of the remaining units with more flexibility to maximise their return on investment.

The deal is the second to be introduced to HREF this year by leading real estate advisory boutique Voltaire Financial led by co-founder James Thomlinson.

Patrick Davenport-Jenkins, Vice President at HREF, who originated and led the transaction, said: “The delivery of this loan demonstrates our ability to execute complex, large bridging loans, at some of the most competitive rates in the market. We moved quickly to get this deal into legals and valuation, and we are delighted to have closed this for our client. It was also a pleasure to work with Voltaire Financial again on our second large bridging loan this year”.

Patrick Davenport-Jenkins: Vice President of Hilco Real Estate Finance (HREF)

Launched last year, and already recognised as a leader in the UK real estate lending market, Hilco Real Estate Finance provides bespoke, flexible property finance solutions nationwide across various real estate sectors and capital structures, offering short term loans for growth, acquisition opportunities, development exits, and refinancing exits with loan sizes ranging from £3m to £100m+.

James Thomlinson of Voltaire Financial said: “It is always interesting to act on high profile projects such as this. Having been mandated by one of Voltaire’s longest-standing and most important clients it was crucial to select a lending partner that provided both competitive pricing and security package, flexibility and absolute certainty of funding. Maintaining a dialogue with the Hilco senior leadership team throughout the process meant that key points of negotiation could be resolved rapidly.

“This was a relatively unique transaction in that the proceeds of the inventory loan were used to take ownership of the entirety of the asset by exiting our client’s institutional JV partner, with development debt long since having been repaid. Patrick and his colleagues were a pleasure to deal with and I look forward to continuing the relationship,” he added.

Headquartered in London and with offices throughout the UK, HREF comprises a rapidly growing team of highly experienced finance professionals. It is a fully integrated subsidiary of Hilco Global (Hilco), the multi-national financial services group with more than $5bn of assets under management. HREF builds on Hilco’s long established credentials as a lender, valuer and asset manager.