Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) has provided a €320m loan to MARK Capital Management to refinance a mixed-use retail and office portfolio in Oslo, marking Blackstone’s debut real estate debt financing in Norway.
The five-year loan will refinance the 12 properties in Oslo, acquired in 2016 by a MARK fund in a joint venture with an undisclosed Middle Eastern institutional investor. The properties are managed by Promenaden, a subsidiary of the MARK-advised fund.
Among the properties are the Steen & Strøm department store and the Eger Quarter shopping gallery. Most of the portfolio is situated on Nedre Slottsgate.
Marcus Meijer, CEO of MARK Capital Management, said: “The Promenaden portfolio represents Europe’s most concentrated set of luxury retail and grade-A office properties – effectively a compressed alternative to Bond Street in London or Via Monte Napoleone in Milan – and is Norway’s most prestigious high-end retail destination, located in the very heart of Oslo’s central business district.
“These qualities have drawn the attention of major international investors, as the refinancing from Blackstone demonstrates.”
Annette Lund, CEO of Promenaden, said: “In partnership with MARK Capital Management, we have helped reposition the portfolio to attract nine of the top ten luxury brands globally.
“Our joint asset management initiatives, underpinned by a disciplined capex programme, have already generated significant value for our capital partners, and there remains further untapped potential that we will seek to unlock over the loan term.”
Stefano Tomaselli, managing director at BREDS, said: “We are pleased to finance this high-quality portfolio for MARK and its partners. This transaction is a great example of BREDS’ ability to provide large financing solutions with both speed and certainty of execution.”
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