INVESTMENT FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Morgan Stanley (lender), King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (borrower) for King’s Cross Estate refinancing, London
Second place: Bank of America (lender), AXA IM Alts, QuadReal, PSP, Temasek (borrowers) for 22 Bishopsgate refinancing, London
Third place: Goldman Sachs (lender), TPG Real Estate, Base Investments (borrowers), for the Vita Scientia 2022-1 CMBS, Netherlands and Germany

In September, US bank Morgan Stanley arranged and underwrote one of the largest loans in the UK market last year – a £1 billion (€1.1 billion) refinancing of several buildings within King’s Cross, one of London’s biggest mixed-use estates. The single loan facility, which has a five-year duration, was secured by multiple assets at the estate and allowed the borrower to consolidate several existing loans. King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership said the deal came at an important time for the 67-acre estate, which is entering the final stages of its development.

 

DEVELOPMENT FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Starwood Capital (lender), Get Living (borrower) for Elephant & Castle regeneration, London
Second place: JPMorgan (lender), Quintain (borrower) for Wembley Park PRS scheme, London
Third place: pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, BayernLB, Stadtsparkasse München (lenders), Atmira (borrower) for Erfurt A logistics scheme

In December 2021, near the beginning of the judging period, private equity lender Starwood closed a £365 million (€412 million) whole loan to Get Living, the build-to-rent operator backed by UK property company Delancey, for the regeneration of the former Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre in southeast London. The five-year loan was designed to enable the second phase of the transformation of the dated property, including 485 homes for rent, plus shops, workspace and educational facilities.

 

FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: UK
Winner: Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (lender), Village Hotels (borrower) for financing of Village Hotels portfolio
Second place: Precede Capital Partners, Apollo Global Management, The Carlyle Group, Crosstree Real Estate Partners (lenders), R&F Properties (borrower) for recapitalisation of Nine Elms development in London
Third place: Generali Real Estate (lender), Hines (borrower) for The Burlian refurbishment, London

Liquidity of debt capital in the hotels sector was limited in 2022. However, in March, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, alongside an unidentified co-lender, provided a £465 million (€525 million) loan for UK hotels business Village Hotels, owned by US-based private equity firm KSL Capital Partners. The loan, of which BREDS provided 50 percent, financed 33 existing assets, and was designed to also fund future growth.

 

FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: GERMANY
Winner: PIMCO Prime Real Estate, Helaba (lenders), Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (borrower) for Westfield Centro refinancing, Oberhausen
Second place: Berlin Hyp, DZ Hyp, Investitionsbank Berlin (lenders), GSG (borrower) for ’11 gewinnt’ Berlin commercial portfolio refinancing
Third place: LBBW, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (lenders), Pembroke (borrower) for Maximilianhöfe refinancing, Munich

In July, PIMCO Prime Real Estate partnered with Helaba for the €700 million refinancing of the Westfield Centro retail centre in Oberhausen, Germany in a seven-year loan. PIMCO provided €400 million and Helaba provided €300 million. The asset is one of the top shopping destinations in Germany and is certified BREEAM In-use Excellent. Located in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, the scheme has a catchment area of 3.5 million inhabitants within a 45-minute drive.

 

FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: FRANCE
Winner: PIMCO Prime Real Estate (lender), consortium of borrowers, for France-focused retail portfolio
Second place: Crédit Agricole CIB (lender), Crédit Agricole Assurances (borrower) for Campus Orange, Châtillon, Paris
Third place: Berlin Hyp (lender), Union Bancaire Privée (borrower) for HAMØ office development in Saint-Denis, near Paris

In a second deal-focused award win, PIMCO Prime Real Estate demonstrated its influence in the French market. In December 2021, it provided a €466 million, 10-year loan to a consortium of borrowers to refinance a prime, cross-border retail portfolio, which contained predominantly French, as well as Belgian, assets. Seven assets were in Paris and three in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The deal was one of Europe’s largest retail sector financings of 2022.

 

FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: SOUTHERN EUROPE
Winner: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB (lenders), Healthcare Activos (borrower) for Project Century financing, Spain and Portugal
Second place: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America (lenders), Blackstone Real Estate Partners (borrower) for Cassia 2022-1 CMBS, Italy
Third place: ING (lender), Ares Management, GIC (borrowers) for IANTE refinancing, Madrid

In March, French banks BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole joined forces for a €390 million, five-year facility for Barcelona-based healthcare provider Healthcare Activos to refinance existing assets and assets under development, within a 49-strong portfolio of hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in Spain and Portugal. The loan was one of the most significant healthcare sector financings in Europe in 2022.

 

SUSTAINABLE FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: PIMCO Prime Real Estate (lender), Welput, PSP Investments (borrowers) for 105 Victoria Street, London
Second place: Wells Fargo (lender), abrdn’s Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust (borrower) for sustainability-linked refinancing of AIPUT’s portfolio
Third place: pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (lender), Bauwerk (borrower) for Vinzent financing, Munich

In March, PIMCO Prime Real Estate provided £200 million (€226 million) to Welput, the central London office fund managed by BentallGreenOak, and Canadian investor PSP for the development of 105 Victoria Street in London. The sponsors plan to deliver a 500,000-square-foot development containing mainly office space but also a restaurant, ‘village square’ and sports hall. The scheme is designed to be net-zero operational and embodied carbon, with BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and WELL Platinum certificates targeted.

 

MID-MARKET FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR (€20M-€70M MARKET): EUROPE
Winner: ASK Partners, OakNorth Bank (lenders), Sheen Lane Developments (borrower) for Richmond’s former House of Fraser financing
Second place: Tristan Capital Partners (lender), Ziser London (borrower) for refinancing of London North Studios
Third place: Leumi UK (lender), Juniper Hotels Holdings (borrower) for Edwardian Holiday Inn, London

In August, ASK and OakNorth jointly financed developer Sheen Lane’s plans to transform a vacant department store into a new retail, office and leisure destination. The lenders provided a £44.5 million (€50.3 million) senior acquisition and development loan to fund the redevelopment of a local landmark in a prime example of a retail repurposing project.

 

SMALL-TICKET FINANCING DEAL OF THE YEAR (SUB-€20M MARKET): EUROPE
Winner: M7 Capital (lender), Willow Nominees [David Samuel Properties] (borrower) for UK retail acquisition financing
Second place: Investec Real Estate (lender), Landhold Developments (borrower) for Clapham Quarter construction financing, London
Third place: Octopus Real Estate (lender), Acorn Property Group (borrower) for Emery Gate retail financing, Chippenham, UK

In September, manager M7’s lending business capitalised on growing property investor demand for retail by providing a £16.3 million (€18.4 million) loan to a subsidiary of Manchester-based property group David Samuel Properties, which specialises in purchasing and asset managing value-add assets. The loan funded the acquisition of two retail parks and a shopping centre in Manchester in England, Inverurie in Scotland and Wrexham
in Wales.