Blackstone has turned to Bank of America Merrill Lynch to secure financing for its purchase of the Kingfisher portfolio of 55 retail assets in Germany.
Blackstone bought the portfolio in May this year for €470m (£324m) from Stenham Property in its first foray into German retail this cycle.
The private equity company has now been extended a five- year facility of close to €335m, reflecting a loan-to-value ratio of around 75%. A margin of 230-250bps over Euribor has been agreed.
When the deal completes, BAML will look at its options for distributing risk. Given the recent success of German securitisations, BAML may consider a CMBS rather than a straight syndication.
The completion of the deal will mean BAML will have extended nearly €1bn of loans to Blackstone in just two months.
Blackstone’s purchase of the UK and Spanish elements of GE Capital’s real estate portfolio has now completed, both of which BAML has agreed to fund.
The bank has already provided £300m for the UK segment and it is expected to provide finance on the Italian element of the portfolio this summer.
