HSBC finances Praxis’ £65m purchase from Blackstone

HSBC is financing Praxis’s £65m purchase of an eight-strong office and business park portfolio from US private equity giant Blackstone.

The bank has a long-standing relationship with Praxis and has been behind a number of acquisitions made by the property investment and management firm.

Gary Roberts, head of capital markets at Praxis, described the tendering process for the loan as competitive.

“We raise debt on our acquisitions when it is appropriate to do so and over the past 12 months have utilised selective borrowing up to 70% loan-to-value. There have been occasions where we have been offered higher LTVs but have opted not to pursue given the associated pricing,” said Roberts.

Praxis invests in all the core asset classes and has acquired more than £500m of UK investment and development assets since 2009.

The latest portfolio contains eight assets predominantly based in the south of England. It includes the Concord Business Park in Manchester, Centric MK, Silbury Court and Workplace Systems, all in Milton Keynes, and The Solent Centre between Southampton and Portsmouth.

“We will be committing additional capital to these properties to increase their appeal to occupiers, with the principle objective of improving occupancy and increasing the net income,” said Roberts.

“We are seeing an increasing number of opportunities like this where proactive asset management can be used to add value and we will look to deploy more capital into the market while the current market conditions continue to prevail.”

Praxis is based in the Isle of Man and has offices in London and Manchester.