GIC and Starwood provide £275m for DK’s car parks acquisition

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has teamed up with Starwood Capital to finance Davidson Kempner’s £500 million acquisition of a portfolio of UK car parks.

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has teamed up with Starwood Capital to finance Davidson Kempner’s £500 million acquisition of a portfolio of UK car parks.

The joint venture lenders provided a £275 million senior loan, implying a 55 percent loan-to-value ratio, according to CoStar News, which first reported the financing deal.

birmingham_new_street_station_from_queens_drive_-_ncp_car_parking_sign_4387800037The five-year loan was provided on a 50/50 basis by the two lenders. There are no immediate plans to syndicate the debt, CoStar reported.

US hedge fund Davidson Kempner beat competition including from Centerbridge to buy the portfolio of 88 car parks from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Blackstone. Among the car parks within the portfolio are properties at Heathrow and Birmingham airports.

The NCP car park portfolio was the last remaining element of the £1.36 billion Project Isobel vehicle which was established between RBS and Blackstone in 2011, when the bank sold a 25 percent stake to the private equity giant. The workout vehicle contained debt secured by a range of properties including developments, care homes, car showrooms and pubs.

The NCP car parks were originally controlled by a vehicle which was 90 percent owned by Israel’s Delek Real Estate and 10 percent owned by investor Robert Tchenguiz.