Pramerica Real Estate Investors has backed Tribeca Holdings’ buyout of its partners in a deal that will give the Irish investor full control of its £1bn London retail estate.
The real estate investment business of Prudential Financial will provide a variety of whole and mezzanine loans as well as preferred equity across the portfolio on deals ranging from two to five years.
The portfolio comprises more than 100 prime retail assets. They include Old Spitalfields Market, E1, which Tribeca originally bought with Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation in 2013 for £105m, and the Brompton Cross Estate, SW3, which it built up with the Wellcome Trust and Brompton Estates.
Also included in the deal are shops on Bond Street, W1; the Kings Road in Chelsea, SW3, and Westbourne Grove, W2.
It is expected that Pramerica will look to syndicate the senior portion of the whole loans. Pramerica typically makes higher-yielding debt investments. Its sister organisation, Pricoa, which is also owned by Prudential, specialises in senior debt.
In addition to the facilities provided by Pramerica, Tribeca has sold more than $500m (£320m) of US assets in order to take full control of its UK properties. Assets sold include two in New York: 710 Madison Avenue, which the company bought in April last year for $70m and is leased to Graff Diamonds; and 691 Madison Avenue, which retailer Hermes occupies and pays a record rent for the street of $1,700 per sq ft.
Pramerica and Tribeca, which is the property company of Limerick-based investor Aidan Brooks, have a long-standing relationship.
Pramerica backed Tribeca in its £130m purchase of 431-451 Oxford Street, W1, from David Pearl’s Structadene early last year. Pramerica provided a whole loan facility for the acquisition, of which the senior tranche was syndicated to Credit Agricole at the end of last year.
