Lone Star is continuing to churn out small portfolios of loans as it seeks to maximise proceeds from its aggressive NPL activity.
The US private equity firm has this week sold a £276m loan portfolio secured by collapsed Opal group assets to Goldman Sachs and Greystar Real Estate Partners.
Lone Star acquired the eight loans, which have a gross unpaid balance of £276m, through its purchase of IBRC’s £4.2bn Project Rock loan portfolio in February. It has sold them to Goldman/Greystar for in excess of £300m.
The US duo teamed up for the first time last October to buy a 21-asset, 6,900-bed portfolio, also through the Opal insolvency.
The loans to special-purpose vehicles of the Opal Group were backed by eight student accommodation blocks, two professional accommodation blocks and two hotels.
The student assets are Wilmslow Park, Manchester; Opal Court, Leicester; Opal 1, London; Chandos Hall, Manchester; Opal 1 & 2, Sheffield; Atlantic 1, Sheffield and Opal Villas, Plymouth.
The residential blocks are Opal Villas in Plymouth and The Pines in Disley; the hotels are The Place in Manchester and the Manchester Conference Centre.
It is the second deal in as many months for Lone Star, which last month sold a £280m logistics portfolio to Oaktree Capital Management and Anglesea Capital.
The firm is one of the main investors in the booming European real estate loan sales market, which has already hit a record €40.9bn (£32.3bn) of sales in the first half of this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
In its half-year update C&W reported that US private equity firms accounted for 77% of completed transactions.
Eastdil Secured advised on the sale.
All parties declined to comment.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
