Real estate finance

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Shoosmiths’ real estate finance practice combines the experience of the firm’s leading banking and real estate practices, drawing upon further expertise in construction, planning, environmental, corporate and tax where necessary.

The team advises a wide range of leading banks and other lenders, borrowers, public bodies, loan servicers, security trustees, REITs and other funds in all areas of real estate finance (investment and development), including syndicated, club and bilateral debt facilities. We are experienced in advising on complex capital structures, including senior and mezzanine facilities, revolving credit facilities and intercreditor agreements.

Our borrower clients include partnerships, limited partnerships, LLPs and onshore and offshore unit trusts.

In any property finance transaction, we realise that lenders are serving their own clients too, and they expect the approach of their lawyers to reflect well on them. Our panel position with many of the UK’s leading financial institutions is a testament to the quality of the advice we give and the way we give it.

Our lawyers are equipped with an understanding of what lenders need to do to protect their security and satisfy lending policy requirements. We adopt a proactive and collaborative approach to ensure potential issues are identified early and resolved quickly, so that finance is properly secured and made available without delay.

We are actively involved in funding a wide range of asset classes, including offices, business parks, shopping centres and retail parks, hotels and other leisure facilities, residential development, student accommodation, retired living, PRS, ground rent portfolios and education and health.

The size of our finance and real estate teams across the UK means we have both the resource and market-leading insight to give the right advice across a broad range of transactions. We can work in any UK jurisdiction, providing you with a single team equipped to advise on development funding, grants, project finance, acquisitions and portfolio regears. Whether you are a lender, a property company or a business looking to leverage your property assets, we have the experience and strength in depth to give the advice you need.

Recent experience includes advising:

• An international clearing bank in relation to loan facilities of £15m and £17m to a national property owner and developer in relation to two London-based residential portfolios;
• Allied London on a £300m funding partnership with Aviva in respect of the development of Enterprise City at the new St John’s neighbourhood in Manchester;
• A luxury residential developer on a £138m facility from a UK lender to assist with funding the construction works of two luxury accommodation blocks;
• A leading luxury student accommodation and aparthotel developer and operator on all aspects of its parallel development and investment financings from two separate ICG Longbow funds with an aggregate debt value of c.£95m to finance/refinance the development of a portfolio of hotels and student accommodation across the UK;
• An international clearing bank in relation to loan facilities of £40m to a Scottish based property owner and developer in relation to a portfolio in Scotland and England;
• A corporate owner and operator of hotels in relation to a £30m development finance facility with a major UK clearing bank;
• A local authority on a £3m loan to a leading UK home builder for the development of 425 residential houses in England and Wales;
• Select Property Group on a £54m senior funding from Lloyds Bank plc and Wells Fargo Bank, and a £30m mezzanine funding from Pramerica Real Estate Capital to finance the acquisition and development of two luxury student accommodation schemes;
• A national retirement and care home developer and operator in relation to their £12m debt funding to facilitate two new developments in Birmingham;
• A major London-based real estate investment fund in relation to a £14m development loan from a clearing back in connection with a purpose-built student accommodation block in Birmingham.