Shore Capital Group’s fund management arm Puma Investments has secured £200m of capital from funds advised by RoundShield Partners to grow its UK property finance business.
The money will be used by newly incorporated subsidiary Puma Property Finance over the next four years to invest in its own infrastructure and to provide loans of between £3m and £30m to UK developers for hotel and leisure projects, as well as residential developments, including retirement living homes and supported living accommodation.
Puma, which offers three core loan products via its property finance business – stretch senior development loans; pre-development bridge finance for site acquisition; and post-development exit finance – said it was experiencing significant demand for development finance in the UK.
As part of the deal, the progressive deployment of the funding line will entitle RoundShield to acquire a stake of up to 25% in Puma Property Finance and its managing partner Driss Benkirane and director Max Leeb will join the board of Puma Property Finance.
In addition, RoundShield may be entitled to additional payments on exit, dependent on the returns achieved by it during the life of the transaction.
David Kaye, chief executive of Puma, said: “There are many high-quality real estate opportunities across the UK unable to access financing from traditional sources. This new partnership will enable us to continue to scale-up our activities with experienced developers.”
To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette
