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Blackstone seeks Devonshire Square refi

Devonshire-Square-THUMB.jpegBlackstone is looking to refinance Devonshire Square, EC2, after it was withdrawn from sale last year.

The private equity firm wants to refinance the 630,000 sq ft of office buildings at close to the £330m it paid for the assets in 2012.

The proposed financing would reflect a loan-to-value ratio of close to 65%, valuing the building at around £510m.

The deal will refinance Goldman Sachs’ £220m senior acquisition loan, which was granted in 2012, as well as a £50m mezzanine loan.

Devonshire Square lost its largest occupier, insurance group AON, to the Cheesegrater, EC3, in 2011 prior to Blackstone’s purchase. The company has since made efforts to improve the site, adding retail and leisure to the 13-building complex. It is investing £50m in the estate.

Around 150,000 sq ft is vacant which Blackstone will undertake a significant refurbishment of. Blackstone is currently getting back space from AON which it will refurbish and be ready to lease by the end of 2017.

The proposed loan has is expected to be priced at around 280bps over three- month Libor.

Blackstone currently values the asset internally at somewhere between £500m and £550m but estimates that it will be worth £600m on completion.

The asset had originally been for sale at around £550m last summer, but was pulled following turmoil in the Chinese stock markets.

If that sale had completed Blackstone would have realised a mark-up of close to 70% in just three years.

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