KKR and Puma Property Finance have formed a £500m joint venture to fund the delivery of residential, build-to-rent (UK) and purpose-built student accommodation schemes in the UK.
The three-year forward-flow partnership will target loans of £20m to £75m in the UK living sector and is designed to support experienced developers delivering high quality projects in supply-constrained markets. The platform will be supported by a senior credit facility provided by a major international bank.
Puma’s development lending team will be responsible for sourcing, underwriting and managing the loans on behalf of the joint venture, working alongside KKR’s global credit platform, which will provide institutional capital, structuring expertise and investment committee oversight.
Anirban Ghosh, managing director at KKR, said: “We are pleased to work with Puma Property Finance to scale access to institutional capital in the UK residential development market. We believe this platform is well positioned to support experienced developers delivering much-needed housing across the country, combining Puma’s local expertise and origination capabilities with KKR’s global credit platform and disciplined underwriting approach.”
Paul Frost, managing director of Puma Property Finance, added: “We are delighted to be working with KKR. KKR’s global standing is second to none, and their backing is a clear endorsement of the strength of the business we have built at Puma, as well as the robust demand for UK real estate credit among global allocators of capital.
“This new joint venture provides our origination teams with access to attractively priced, scalable capital to support best-in-class developers across the UK living sectors. It complements our existing capital lines well and means we can support more high quality developments with the service levels, flexibility and human touch that people have come to expect from Puma.”
Puma was advised by Ashcombe Advisers and Greenburg Traurig.
