Criterion Capital has completed a £937m refinance with Aviva.
The company, headed by Asif Aziz, has sealed a long-term financing deal held against 14 West End properties, including the Criterion Building, SW1, and the Trocadero, W1.
The Trocadero is currently being redeveloped to include the West End’s biggest budget Accor hotel at 701 bedrooms.
The deal is the largest undertaken by a single lender this year and one of the largest by a private company this cycle. Criterion has historically been one of Aviva’s largest borrowers. This new agreement will allow the company to lock in very long-term financing at historically low rates.
An Aviva spokesman said: “We were very pleased to have been able to assist Criterion with the long-term refinancing of these flagship central London assets on 35-year and 50-year gilt-based terms and this underlines the commitment of Aviva to the UK real estate finance market.”
Graham Wood, Criterion’s chief investment officer, said: “This refinance meets our long-term investors’ wealth-preservation objectives by providing low-geared, 35- and 50-year money at very favourable rates, secured against a portfolio of core West End properties.”
