Prime Commercial Properties (PCP), the UK-based retail property investor, has obtained a seventh extension on the Bremen loan which it failed to repay at the initial maturity date of 18 October 2010.
Prime Commercial Properties (PCP), the UK-based retail property investor, has obtained a seventh extension on the Bremen loan which it failed to repay at the initial maturity date of 18 October 2010.
According to a statement this week to the Irish stock exchange, the standstill period has been prolonged until 15 November 2011 to enable the borrower to finalise a restructuring.
The loan - which is part of the EUR 620 mln Taurus (Germany) 2006-1 CMBS vehicle - was granted to PCP back in 2005 for the acquisition of the Haven Höövt-Center shopping mall in Vegesack, Bremen, Germany. With an initial value of nearly EUR 100 mln, the five-year credit facility was originated by US financial group Capmark and securitised in June 2006 together with eight other loans secured on German properties with an aggregate value of EUR 837 mln.
The loan entered special servicing on November 8, 2010 after the borrower failed to repay, with special servicer Capita then agreeing to a standstill period of two months. Discussions are ongoing with the borrower and the B-note lenders, Capita said. 'The company is confident it will complete refinancing talks before the expiry of the actual standstill period,' Capita Asset Services told PropertyEU. The balance of the loan is less than EUR 50 mln.
Earlier this year, Fitch downgraded all of the Taurus' note classes due to continued credit deterioration of the loans. Three of the six remaining loans are in special servicing due to maturity defaults; of the three loans in primary servicing, two have breached their LTV covenants.
The Haven Höövt-Center offers around 36,000 m2 of retail space let to some 60 tenants. The scheme is managed by ECE and CBRE.
PCP began investing in Germany in 2005, building up a EUR 550 mln portfolio in the country. Over the past three years the company has been seeking an exit from the market, with its German portfolio being reduced to just the Bremen shopping centre and the 39,000-m2 Allee-Center in Leipzig. Savills was hired in November 2009 to divest the assets.
