Delancey scores banks hat-trick |
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26.02.10 By Laura Chesters Delancey buys Castlemore assets and manages ex-Modus mall so Royal Bank and Anglo Irish can recover loans Delancey has agreed three complex property transactions with banks. The opportunity fund manager has bought a 28% stake in one of the UK’s largest shopping parks and completed its purchase of 40 Holborn Viaduct in London, as first revealed by Property Week (08.01.10). In a complex transaction with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Delancey has bought the stake in Castlepoint Shopping Park near Bournemouth as part of an agreement to buy RBS out of two Castlemore-related ventures. Delancey’s shopping centre development company, Centros, has been chosen as asset manager of the Houndshill Shopping Centre in Blackpool, which is in administration. The three deals are a coup for Delancey and will be the envy of many property companies that hope to deal directly with banks to buy or asset manage investments after the recession. The Castlepoint and Holborn Viaduct purchases were from subsidiaries of Graham Whateley’s Castlemore, which are not in administration but were funded by RBS. Sixteen Castlemore subsidiaries went into administration last February. Following Delancey’s purchase, RBS will no longer have any interest in the two schemes and is thought to have secured full recovery of its original loans. Delancey is thought to have paid around £90m for the Castlepoint stake. At 40 Holborn Viaduct, it is unclear how much Delancey paid, but in 2005 RBS had agreed a £74.5m credit facility with Castlemore to fund the scheme. A statement from Delancey said: “Each acquisition had challenges that included complex legal and asset management issues, which could not have been overcome without a close working relationship with RBS’s real estate restructuring team in London.” Castlepoint is held in a limited partnership alongside funds advised by Standard Life and Threadneedle. Jamie Ritblat, chairman and CEO of Delancey, said: “Castlepoint provides another example of working alongside our partners to achieve innovative and flexible refinancing and restructuring solutions.” In Blackpool, Delancey-backed Centros has been selected by Anglo Irish Bank to asset manage the 400,000 sq ft Houndshill mall, which was placed into administration as part of a group of companies related to Brendan Flood’s modus Ventures last year. Delancey is also waiting to hear whether it will be selected to partner PropInvest in managing and investing in its £700m Blade portfolio.
Source: Property Week (www.propertyweek.co.uk) |
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