Legal & General has completed a bilateral loan to fund the acquisition of Olympia London Exhibition Centre by a consortium of German investors.
A joint venture of institutional investors led and advised by Deutsche Finance International (DFI) and Yoo Capital (YC) purchased the asset from the UK's Capital & Counties (Capco) for £296 mln (€347 mln).
'Representing our first acquisition finance deal, this debt facility brings our total lending to over £2bn (€2.34 bn) and demonstrates our ability to continue to move into areas that the market might not traditionally expect to see us in,' commented Ashley Goldblatt, head of Commercial Lending Ltd at LGIM Real Assets.
The financing came from Legal & General’s Private Credit business, part of LGIM Real Assets, on behalf of Legal & General Retirement (LGR). It is arranged over a five year term and its draw down is immediate.
'Olympia London is an iconic exhibition centre of a scale and enviable location not replicated elsewhere in the UK. With the combination of Deutsche Finance’s and Yoo Capital’s vision and asset management expertise, it has a strong future,' Goldblatt added.
LGIM said its Real Assets’ property lending business has now lent over £2 bn (€2.34 bn) across 20 deals.
