Edmond de Rothschild REIM said on Thursday that it has provided €50 mln of mezzanine debt for the acquisition of an office complex in Hamburg by B&L Group.
The financing was made through the Edmond de Rothschild European High Yield I Real Estate Debt Fund and a dedicated fund.
B&L Group signed the purchase contract to acquire the office complex from Generali Deutschland and Commerz Real in September 2021.
Situated between Besenbinderhof and Norderstrasse, the buildings provide a lettable area of over 67,000 m2 plus ancillary areas and 500 underground parking spaces. The senior acquisition loan of €168 mln was provided by a syndicate comprising pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank as mandated lead arranger, Hamburger Sparkasse and Berlin Hyp.
When the lease with the main tenant, Generali Deutschland AG, expires at the end of 2023, B&L Group will implement a comprehensive refurbishment that puts an emphasis on sustainability and amenities.
‘Despite working under immense time pressure, this large mezzanine loan, forming part of a complex overall financing structure, was successfully implemented by our team on time,’ said Ralf Kind, head of Real Estate Debt at Edmond de Rothschild REIM. ‘This deal continues an impressive series of attractive debt investments for development projects, property acquisitions and sale-and-leaseback transactions in Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin that we have executed in recent months. The next deals, supported by a strong pipeline and accelerating national and international fundraising activities for the fund, are already in preparation.’
In early December last year, Edmond de Rothschild's Real Estate Debt team completed another equity closing for the Edmond de Rothschild European High Yield I Real Estate Debt Fund. This increased the equity of the fund, which was launched at the end of 2020, to over €100 mln. The final closing, with a target volume of €300 mln, is set for December 2022.
The Edmond de Rothschild REIM Real Estate Debt team also manages a separate fund, with a volume of €180 mln, for a German insurance group. Both these vehicles are participating in the financing transaction in Hamburg, as co-investors.
