Pears Group has teamed up with Tom Bloxham’s Urban Splash to take out its debt and help grow the business.
The family-owned property company has refinanced the once heavily indebted Manchester-based developer’s £135m of remaining debt.
It has replaced lenders Royal Bank of Scotland, Co-operative Bank, HSBC and Blackstone.
The joint venture will initially refinance Urban Splash’s 35-strong Braun portfolio, which includes mixed-use Birmingham scheme Fort Dunlop. This is the largest speculative office scheme outside London, with 300,000 sq ft of offices alongside shops and a 100-bedroom hotel.
The portfolio also includes the Matchworks regeneration of Liverpool’s Speke Garston area by building 166,000 sq ft of offices, and Smithfield Buildings in Manchester.
The partnership comes hot on the heels of a debt deal Pears completed with London residential developer Mount Anvil last month.
The group provided a £50m loan, replacing lender Ares Management, and is expected to plough equity into the group through more joint ventures as Mount Anvil launches a £1bn development drive.
Pears Group managing director Jonathan Rose said: “These are opportunistic transactions with sponsors who we think are savvy and clever investors.”
Rose said that the group had invested more than £300m in debt deals in the past 18 months, including in two Nama portfolios.
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
