ICG-Longbow, the real estate arm of Intermediate Capital Group, has completed a first close for its latest senior debt fund, securing £500m (€589m) of commitments.
The company said investors included public and private-sector pension funds and a UK insurer.
Some were invested in the previous fund, which became fully invested in April last year, making over £430m of loans across 18 transactions.
The fund targets capital preservation and secure income returns by investing in senior debt secured against mid-market real estate assets in the UK. Loans typically range between £10m and £100m in size.
More than £150m of commitments for the new fund have been deployed across seven transactions, including a £21.5m loan to Urban Splash to support the regeneration of the Royal William Yard mixed-use scheme in Plymouth.
The returns on the debt strategy are projected to outperform all-property total returns, based on IPF consensus forecasts from 2019 to 2023.
David Mortimer, head of senior debt at ICG-Longbow, said: “In an uncertain political and economic environment, we believe the success of this fundraise shows that investors remain attracted to senior-lending strategies with proven managers as a defensive means of gaining exposure to real estate.”
