Bayside Capital makes mezzanine loan on Madrid shopping mall

Bayside Capital has emerged as the mezzanine provider behind the refinancing of one of Spain’s largest shopping and leisure centres.

The opportunistic investor issued a mezz loan of around €20m for the refinancing of Madrid’s Islazul shopping centre. Bayside’s position sits between 50% and 70% LTV in the overall capital stack.

Owners Ivanhoe Cambridge and Grupo Lar secured €97.5m of five-year senior debt from West Immo, Natixis and BAWAG at the turn of this year. The senior loan’s LTV reflected 50% and priced at 425 basis points.

West Immo and Natixis were existing lenders on the matured facility, while BAWAG replaced M&G Investments. West Immo provided €33.45m; the other two lenders each provided €32m.

Bayside declined to comment on the deal but the group’s head of European real estate and asset-backed investments, Ahmed Hamdani, said: “We do like Spanish retail”.

Bayside, owned by HIG Capital, has €500m of equity from a global fund, a €1bn European distressed  fund – closed in April 2013 – as well as other sources of equity.

At 969,000 sq ft, Islazul on Madrid’s southern outskirts,  is the biggest shopping centre in the city.