Aeriance reports £160m of loans this year

Independent real estate debt fund manager Aeriance Investments has written £160 million of loans across 15 deals during 2016 to date, it has reported. The firm said this takes total underwriting across its four funds to £1.35 billion since inception.

The firm closed €270 million of business across 20 loans during 2015, which took its total portfolio to €1.6 billion as at January this year.

In 2016 to date, Aeriance has written £103 million of senior secured loans. Recent deals have included:

• a £25 million development loan for a residential development in Manchester
• a £16 million bridge-to-planning loan for a residential-led mixed-use scheme in Putney, south west London
• a £9 million funding for a residential development in Birmingham

The firm added that it has closed around £40 million of loans since the UK’s Brexit vote, including a £15.2 million residential development facility in Manchester and a £5.6 million residential scheme funding in Kent.

Aeriance has also provided £52 million of bridge financings this year including a £15 million bridge-to-planning for an office to residential conversion in Canary Wharf and an £18 million bridge-to-planning facility for a phased mixed-use scheme in Kent.

In addition, around €75 million of senior and mezzanine loans on behalf of all four funds were extended in the UK, Germany, Sweden and France, for both bridge lending and development purposes.

“We continue to see strong demand from proven investors and developers to access the alternative lending markets. Whilst we are mindful of the potential impact of leaving the EU, we are also cautiously optimistic of the opportunities that this may present, as traditional lenders retrench from the market,” said Harin Thaker, chief executive of Aeriance Investments.

“At the fund level, we believe alternatives are gaining more and more attraction from institutional investors, who seek to add diversification and uncorrelated alpha to their portfolios. Debt continues to grow as an asset class with direct lending strategies taking the biggest part of the ‘fundraising pie’. Europe is a promising region for direct lending funds as there are plenty of investment opportunities due to the economic outlook shaped by central banks,” Thaker added.