UK lender OakNorth has provided Axis Retail Partners with a £20.5 mln (€25 mln) loan to support its maiden shopping centre acquisition in the UK.
The capital will support the acquisition of St George’s Shopping Centre from RDI REIT, on behalf of three of LaSalle Global Partner Solutions’ pension fund clients. The shopping centre, located on Harrow’s popular high-street, totals 215,000 sq ft (19,980 m2), including 32 retail units and 669 parking spaces. Refurbished in 2015, St George’s focuses on offering shoppers convenience and value retail, with occupiers including household brands such as: TK Maxx, Boots, Wilkos, H&M, Nandos and Pizza Express, situated alongside a 12-screen Vue cinema.
Formed in 2018 following a partnership between Generali Investment Holding and entrepreneurs Florencio Beccar and Toby Smith, Axis currently has €525mln of assets under management.
Toby Smith, CIO of Axis Retail Partners, commented: ‘We are very pleased with having been able to execute our first UK deal. We have been active in the UK market for almost two years and believe that now is the right time to start investing as the market starts to recover from Covid-19, which continues to be the ultimate stress test to the sector.'
He added: 'We are focusing on assets which are relevant retail destinations and that have a demonstrated track record of strong performance, a rebased rental level and offer an attractive income yield to our clients. Given this was our first shopping centre acquisition, we were in need of not just bank, but a trusted lending partner who we could depend on to understand our business and structure a bespoke facility around our specific needs. Eamonn and the team at OakNorth Bank did just that, completing the entire transaction in under three weeks since first contact.’
