Cohort Capital has provided a £22m acquisition loan to an undisclosed US fund for the purchase of a 40,000 sq ft office building in Brook Green, West London.
The fund will use the loan, which was provided at a 60% LTV ratio on a 12-month term, to finance the conversion of the building into 33 high-end residential apartments in a gated development. Cohort’s loan enabled the sponsor to secure the asset and procure development finance for the construction.
Matt Thame, founder of Cohort Capital, said: “This is another great example of where Cohort’s reliable funding and underwriting base has directly benefited the borrower market. The deal received significant attention in the short-term lending space after another funder had failed to perform at the last stage. We were able to provide certainty for the borrower by moving quickly at a lower LTV. If market turbulence continues, it’s likely we will continue to see less experienced lenders pulling out of deals, putting transactions at risk.”
Bal Sohal, chairman of Cohort Capital, added: “There is growing demand for stable, sensible, and quick funding – we believe certainty is good business in the current climate. We never set out four years ago to be the cheapest and highest on LTV; just to be reliable and straightforward. In addition to the reliability factor, we are typically closing deals two weeks from first enquiry – compared to banks which are taking at least three months to close debt transactions. We have a strong pipeline of comparable deals and are constantly looking for more suitable loan opportunities.”
