Lloyds Banking Group’s investment arm, LDC, has purchased Birmingham’s NEC complex from Birmingham city council for £307m.
The premises include the National Exhibition Centre, International Convention Centre, and Genting and Barclaycard arenas.
The purchase will be financed by Macquarie Lending through a bespoke unitranche loan with a six-and-a-half year maturity. RBS will provide a working capital facility. Macquarie will retain a “significant” holding until maturity.
GVA senior director Carl Potter said: “This is one of the most significant property transactions that we’ve seen in Birmingham for some time and our team has demonstrated the strength of GVA’s multidisciplinary approach in delivering a first-class piece of work for our client.
“Birmingham city council is a long-standing client of GVA’s and we have naturally been very pleased to be able to support them in the disposal of one of the Midlands’ most recognisable and important strategic assets.
“We were initially instructed to provide due diligence for Birmingham city council and through demonstrating our ability to add additional streams, our instruction continued to grow. It is our hope that given the change of ownership, GVA should be able to provide further advice in the future.”
Macquarie Lending managing director Adam Joseph said: “The NEC Group is a landmark asset in the UK, with a strong heritage in hosting world-class events as well as being a significant contributor to the West Midlands economy. The business and its venues are key to the wider development plans of Birmingham and Solihull councils, centred around and linked to the airport expansion and city centre and HS2 developments. Macquarie brings expertise in structuring and underwriting deals of this nature, as well as financing specialist assets in the real estate, hospitality, and corporate sectors.”
LDC was advised by GVA with Macquarie Lending as lead arranger and finance provider.
The sale was prompted by a £1bn equal pay settlement involving hundreds of former female NEC staff.
