Barings Real Estate said on Monday that it has financed the £201 mln (€227 mln) acquisition of No. 1 Spinningfields in Manchester by a joint venture set up and managed by Schroder Real Estate Investment Management.
Barings is providing an £81 mln 10-year fixed rate facility reflecting a 40% loan-to-value. The loan is secured against a recently completed 310,000 sq ft (28,800 m2) office building which is home to a range of occupiers including auditing and consulting firm PwC. Located in the western part of Manchester’s city centre, the 19-storey office building has a 95% occupancy rate. It was bought by Schroder on behalf of Finnish pension-insurer Ilmarinen and another global investor.
Barings also recently provided £34.7 mln of development finance to fund the acquisition of a build-to-rent residential project in Greater Manchester, meaning over £100 mln has been committed to debt transactions in Manchester in recent months.
In addition, on the equity side of the business, Barings is currently developing Landmark, a 180,000 sq ft office scheme in St. Peter’s Square, Manchester on behalf of an institutional investor.
'We are strong advocates of the Manchester market and are delighted to have supported such a high quality sponsor as Schroders on their acquisition of this Grade A property,' said Chris Bates, head of Core Mortgage Europe at Barings Real Estate. 'We continue to see opportunities across both the senior fixed rate and structured areas of the debt market and look forward to continuing the expansion of our debt platform in 2018.'
