Wells Fargo, LaSalle finance Blackstone deal

US financial services group Wells Fargo has teamed up with LaSalle Investment Management to provide debt funding for Blackstone's acquisition of seven warehouse properties in the UK.

In the all American funding deal, Wells Fargo and LaSalle jointly provided a total of £67 mln (€78 mln) to Blackstone's real estate arm. LaSalle's debt investments team also provided £13 mln in mezzanine financing to support the acquisition.

Wells Fargo and Blackstone are both listed in New York while LaSalle Investment Management is part of New York-listed advisory group Jones Lang La Salle.

The vendor and further details about the investment volume were not disclosed.

Three of the assets are located in the Midlands, three in the North West, and one in Yorkshire:. Six of the seven properties have been leased to well-known tenants in the UK, while the seventh is currently vacant and being refurbished by Blackstone.

Amy Aznar, head of debt investments at LaSalle, said: 'This represents our team’s 12th mezzanine loan provided in the last 12 months and third with Blackstone in the UK logistics space. We are delighted to work with Blackstone and Wells Fargo again and look forward to growing our relationship with both in the coming year.'

Chip Fedalen, head of Wells Fargo commercial real estate’s institutional and metro markets group, added: 'We have a strong commitment to helping our customers succeed financially, and through the development of our relationship with Blackstone over the past 20 years, we felt this project was well-suited for them as the company continues expanding its industrial footprint in the UK.'

Wells Fargo previously supported Blackstone in financing its acquisition of the Triangle portfolio, which included 17 logistic properties in the UK. LaSalle’s debt team has supported Blackstone in providing over £120 mln of mezzanine financing for various logistics acquisitions (including Triangle) since early 2012.

Earlier this year, Wells Fargo, which has $1.4 tln (€1 tln) in assets, expanded its commercial real estate operations in the UK.

LaSalle Investment Management has some $47 bn of assets under management of private and public property equity investments. Its debt investment group was set up in 2010 to provide whole loan, stretched senior and mezzanine finance, capital expenditure funding, loan acquisition funding and preferred equity investments across the UK and
Germany.

Typically, LaSalle targets single loan amounts of £10 mln to over £100 mln for a term of three to five years.