Macquarie has provided a £41m facility to Lycamobile to buy a 3.5-acre development site in London’s Docklands, as revealed by Estates Gazette.
Macquarie Real Estate Lending, part of Macquarie’s Corporate and Asset Finance Group, provided the senior facility on a five-year term at a loan-to-cost of approximately 50% for the Thames Quay, E14, acquisition.
The Australian group is the sole senior lender on the transaction.
Lycamobile, the privately held international telecoms group, bought the property, which comprises four fully let office buildings totalling 237,000 sq ft, from Columbus Capital Management.
It plans to “maximise the value of the site by exploring various options including a potential conversion of the site from office to residential use”.
Existing Robin Partington-designed proposals for the site include four residential towers of up to 47 storeys, offices and a hotel.
Peter Vega, managing director of Macquarie’s European real estate lending business, said: “We are very pleased to have financed this acquisition of an attractive office site to the south of Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands area.
“The transaction demonstrates Macquarie’s ability to execute bespoke and complex deals while working closely with our clients to allow them to achieve their investment objectives.”
Subaskaran Allirajah, Lycamobile’s chairman, said: “For many years Thames Quay has been a fantastic site from which to nurture Lycamobile’s success. It is a foundation on which to build our international expansion.”
Macquarie Real Estate Lending has closed a total of 16 transactions since entering the European real estate lending market in 2010.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
