Ardent UK, owned by US-based real estate investment and asset management firm Ardent, has secured £100 mln (€120 mln) in infrastructure and logistics financing for its UK industrial and logistics fund.
Provided by London-based private debt asset management and advisory firm AgFe, the acquisition financing covers a portfolio of four UK-based industrial assets acquired between December 2021 and February 2022.
They include a 21,803 m2 unit in Pickering (North Yorkshire); a 4,657 m2 unit in Peterlee (County Durham); the 28,418 m2 Tokenspire Business Park in Beverley, East Riding (Yorkshire); as well as a 1,750 m2 unit at 717B North Circular Road in NW London.
Ardent UK managing director, Richard Benson, said the financing represented ‘a major step forward in the growth of Ardent UK’s industrial and logistics fund’, reflecting the sector’s ‘ongoing opportunities’ and the strength of the company’s acquisition and asset management strategies, with ‘further acquisitions of strategically-located assets with strong leasing fundamentals’ expected.
The head of Real Estate at AgFe, James Wright, highlighted the ‘granular, diversified exposure of the sector coupled with significant asset management potential offered by the portfolio.’
The assets feature an in-place occupancy of 99%, a weighted average unexpired lease term to break of 7.1 years, and a weighted average unexpired lease term to expiry of 8.3 years. Ardent UK will be able to acquire further assets under the same conditions.
The three-year senior loan, with 65% loan-to-value, was provided by AgFe under one of its European insurance account mandates.
Ardent UK was advised by JLL’s debt advisory and structured finance team.
