MARK Capital Management, a pan-European real estate investment manager, has secured a €320m senior loan from Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) to refinance a prime mixed-use portfolio in central Oslo. The five-year facility marks Blackstone's first Norwegian real estate debt financing and is reportedly the country's largest single-tranche real estate portfolio refinancing ever completed.
The twelve-property portfolio, acquired by a MARK-advised fund in 2016 and managed by Promenaden, includes the historic Steen & Strøm department store, which has operated continuously since 1797 and achieved record sales with 6.9% year-on-year growth in 2024. Most properties (71% by GLA) are located on Nedre Slottsgate—Oslo's 'Bond Street'—home to nine of the world's ten most valuable luxury brands.
"The Promenaden portfolio represents Europe's most concentrated set of luxury retail and Grade A office properties - effectively a compressed alternative to Bond Street in London or Via Monte Napoleone in Milan - and is Norway's most prestigious high-end retail destination, located in the very heart of Oslo's central business district. These qualities have drawn the attention of major international investors, as the refinancing from Blackstone demonstrates," said Marcus Meijer, CEO of MARK Capital Management.
"In partnership with MARK Capital Management, we have helped reposition the portfolio to attract nine of the top ten luxury brands globally. Our joint asset management initiatives, underpinned by a disciplined capex programme, have already generated significant value for our capital partners, and there remains further untapped potential that we will seek to unlock over the loan term," added Annette Lund, CEO of Promenaden.
"We are pleased to finance this high-quality portfolio for MARK and its partners. This transaction is a great example of BREDS' ability to provide large financing solutions with both speed and certainty of execution," commented Stefano Tomaselli, Managing Director at BREDS.
- Marcus Meijer, CEO, MARK Capital Management
- Annette Lund, CEO, Promenaden
- Stefano Tomaselli, Managing Director, BREDS
- MARK Capital Management - Pan-European real estate investment and asset manager
- Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) - Real estate debt financing provider
- Promenaden - Oslo-based asset management entity
- Rothschild & Co - Lender outreach advisor
- ABG - Lender outreach advisor
Get the latest real estate news and investment insights from Europe Real Estate - your trusted source since 1999. To receive daily or weekly updates. Sign up here!
