GIC closes £90m facility to Maya Capital

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has closed a £90m senior loan to Maya Capital this week to primarily fund further UK regional office acquisitions.

The five-year facility, which is believed to reflect a loan-to-value between 60-65%, will also refinance Maya’s current portfolio of six office assets.

“When we looked at financing to be able to extend our portfolio we talked to close to 30 different entities from alternative investors, debt funds, UK banks, foreign banks – there are a lot of people interested in financing,” said David Pralong, managing partner at Maya Capital.

“GIC’s terms are quite competitive but it’s also important to have people involved who understand our strategy and understand real estate and are able to see through any short term difficulties should they arise, which is very important for a lender.”

The loan to Maya is the second known facility in the UK real estate market from GIC in recent months. In June, it provided a £90m, five-year loan to student housing group Urbanest through its £1bn joint venture lending platform with Laxfield Capital.

GIC has about $343bn of assets under management with $24bn in real estate assets including debt.

Its latest property debt deal, which GIC invested in alone, will allow London-based Maya to buy more regional office assets. The firm, which is backed by investor GWM Group, targets secondary office buildings. GWM, which also has a relationship with GIC, introduced Maya to the lender.

Maya launched its investment strategy in February and has so far committed £50m buying six assets.

“We’ve looked at 265 different assets and made only six acquisitions so we’re very disciplined in our approach. We only invest in the best,” said Pralong.

The firm’s portfolio includes two assets in Cardiff, two in Newcastle, one in Swansea and one purchased this week in Worthing, Highdown House, for £6.5m at a net initial yield of 10.25%.