Pricoa Mortgage Capital has arranged a £103 million (approx. €123 million) loan to refinance The Waldorf Hilton, a historic luxury hotel located in the heart of London’s theater district. The deal represents Pricoa Mortgage Capital’s seventh commercial real estate loan since launching its European business in 2012 and its fifth in the UK. Pricoa Mortgage Capital is the commercial mortgage lending business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), which is headquartered in the US, and is one of the largest commercial mortgage lenders in the United States.
The Waldorf Hilton is wholly owned by the Bhatia family, established London hoteliers with several prominent hotel holdings across London. The family is led by Gulshan Bhatia who has more than 40 years’ experience operating and owning London hotels. The Waldorf Hilton was originally purchased for the family’s portfolio in 2007 and Pricoa Mortgage Capital’s 15-year, fixed-rate loan will be used to refinance existing debt.
This financing brings Pricoa Mortgage Capital’s secured commercial real estate loan portfolio in Europe to nearly $1 billion since its first European loan in June 2012. It is also the first loan under the new Friends Life investment mandate announced in July, 2013.
Under the £500 million discretionary mandate, Friends Life will participate in large loans originated by Pricoa Mortgage Capital, boosting Pricoa Mortgage Capital’s single loan limit in the UK to more than £250 million. The Friends Life co-investment program targets senior secured, fixed-rate loans with maturities of between five and 15 years, with appetite for assets in London as well as regional England and Wales.
David Gingell, Director of European originations for Pricoa Mortgage Capital said, “The Waldorf Hilton continues to outperform the market in a number of key metrics and its trading performance proved resilient through the recent economic cycle. The location of the property in the heart of London’s theatre district and its proximity to Covent Garden will act as long term demand drivers for the hotel. These characteristics coupled with the opportunity to provide long term financing to a family who has built their reputation in hotels made this an extremely attractive transaction.”
“The Waldorf Hilton loan is both testament to Pricoa Mortgage Capital’s long-term commitment to European markets and also our ability to deploy capital on behalf of third party mortgage investors,” said Drew Abernethy, head of European originations for Pricoa Mortgage Capital. “We are proud to have been involved in this transaction.”
Looking forward to 2014, Pricoa Mortgage Capital will continue its focus on senior, fixed-rate commercial real estate debt in Europe. Its European program offers similar loan structures to those offered by the company in the US, and as in the US, Pricoa Mortgage Capital has the ability to fund individual transactions of significant size.
Source: FTI Consulting
