Grosvenor has approached lenders to refinance its Liverpool One shopping centre as the existing finance deal on the asset nears the end of its term.
The Duke of Westminster’s property company is understood to have approached a number of lenders to explore options on the existing £385m loan deal taken out with a club of four banks.
The firm originally refinanced the 1.6m sq ft shopping centre and office site in 2011 with a club of four banks – Royal Bank of Scotland, Dekabank, Crédit Agricole and Eurohypo (now Wells Fargo).
At the time the asset was valued at £650m. Since then the property has increased in value to around £800m. Grosvenor is not seeking to raise further debt on the site, however, and is understood to be looking only to take advantage of market conditions to reduce the cost of the loan and extend it another five years.
Doing so would reduce the gearing on the asset from a 60% loan to value ratio to around 48%, an LTV more in keeping with conservative investors that hold core assets.
In addition to approaching the existing debt holders, Grosvenor is understood to have also canvassed a limited number of other lenders to look at other avenues of refinancing, including longer-term finance.
Grosvenor manages and owns the property on behalf of investors such as Hermes, Liverpool Victoria and ADIA from within its Grosvenor Liverpool Fund.
