German lender LBBW has provided financing for the£222.4m purchase of 95 Wigmore Street, W1.
The German bank is understood to have extended a facility of close to £120m to purchase the 82,300 sq ft office and retail building.
The finance represents an LTV of between 55% and 60% of the original purchase price.
With the lending market now highly competitive for prime central London assets, some German banks are able to come to the fore because of the low cost of their capital, which is accessed through the pfandbrief markets.
The Taiwanese Tsai family behind conglomerate Fubon Group bought 95 Wigmore Street in April. The investor was fronted by UBS Global Asset Management and acquired the building from a joint venture between Great Portland Estates and Aberdeen Asset Management.
The asset was completed in 2013 and the offices prelet to a trio of tenants – Pyrford International, Bridgepoint Advisers and Lane Clark & Peacock.
The purchase price reflected a 3.4% yield. Rents in the property range from £77.50 per sq ft to £92.50 per sq ft on lease terms of between 10 and 15 years.
LBBW has been active in the financing of prime assets over the past two years, often as part of a syndicate of other lenders.
In January this year the bank agreed a £325m loan alongside ING for the refinancing of the 412,000 sq ft Sea Containers House, SE1, for owners Archlane.
It was also involved in the ING financing of Safra Group’s purchase of the Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, EC3, earlier this year. As mandated lead arranger, it took a £120m tranche of the debt in April after the Dutch Bank syndicated its £365m loan.
Around the same time, LBBW provided £105m of a £280m Santander-led loan to finance Brookfield Office Properties’ acquisition of the new Amazon HQ at Principal Place, EC2.
UBS and LBBW declined to comment.
