One of the UK’s newest commercial property debt providers has completed its first Scottish deals seven months after launching.
Edinburgh-based Fairfield Real Estate Finance has completed debt refinancing packages for two businesses for £31m.
The largest deal is a debt refinancing for a £21m joint commercial property portfolio owned by David Cameron of Upland Developments and Bruce Linton of James Keiller Estates. It includes the Clydesdale Bank headquarters in Glasgow and a mixed range of three sites in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.
Fairfield has also secured a debt package for a new hotel in Glasgow on behalf of Curo Property Fund. The £10m hotel in West Campbell Street is operated as a Hampton by Hilton and opened in May 2016.
The deals are the first Scottish investments for the company, which is backed by US firm Oaktree Capital Management.
Fairfield is committed to a growth plan that includes increasing its Edinburgh-based staff and providing more than £300m of debt funding to new projects by the summer of 2017.
Colin Duncan, real estate director at Fairfield, said: “We are in the fortunate position of having the financial backing of Oaktree Capital Management. This gives us the ability to offer something different to the commercial real estate market at the moment. We are very comfortable that our first Scottish deals offer good long-term prospects.
“In the case of David Cameron and Bruce Linton, they are both highly experienced people responsible for a mixed portfolio with multiple tenants and a strong lettings history.
“The hotels market is interesting to us as we are very comfortable lending into hotels with operating agreements which are very much in keeping with financial models in the US.
“Our funding is an attractive option for low-equity borrowers with active asset management opportunities that create value. Some mainstream borrowers are stagnated due to lack of acquisition, development or refurbishment capital as cashflow is swept to debt repayment. Our refinancing of existing loans allows additional debt for acquisitions and capital spend or even potential for some cash out to reflect past successes.
“We have a number of other deals in the pipeline and are looking forward to working with many more clients across the UK and Ireland in the months and years ahead.”
Fairfield was established in May 2016 and has completed a number of commercial property deals in Ireland, however the business will be based in Edinburgh and has recently opened its first UK office on Melville Street.
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