HFF announces £350 million financing of Regent’s Crescent, London, England

Regent's Crescent Residences, Marylebone, London, England

LONDON, ENGLAND –– HFF Real Estate Limited (HFF) announces the £350 million financing of Regent’s Crescent, a 76-unit marquee residential project in Marylebone, London. 

John Nash

 Originally designed by famed Buckingham palace architect John Nash, Regent’s Crescent is the only Grade I-listed asset in the U.K. to have received approval for a complete reconstruction, a process which is underway and will provide the area with a fully restored piece of English history.

The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, a consortium of institutional and ultra-high-net-worth investors based in Europe and the Middle East.  Key principals of the borrower include Venture Capital Bank and Rassmal Investments.

The financing includes £250 million of senior debt, which was provided by a syndicate of five lenders based in the U.K. and the Middle East.  Additionally, £100 million of mezzanine capital was funded by various parties, domiciled in the U.S. and the Middle East.  The entire financing was structured as Sharia Compliant through multiple Commodity Murabaha agreements.

Claudio Sgobba

The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower was led by managing director Claudio Sgobba and director Andrew Hornblower.

“HFF is thrilled to have been involved with such a unique, historic transaction and looks forward to seeing Regent’s Crescent take its place as one of the truly special residential assets in London,” Sgobba said.

“We are thankful to have assisted the sponsorship in navigating a complex capitalisation with nine distinct capital providers, ultimately reaching a very successful outcome for all parties involved,” Hornblower added.

Venture Capital Bank BSC was established in 2005 as a Bahrain-based wholesale Islamic investment bank regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain.  The firm has a strong shareholding base from across the GCC countries and invests across various asset classes in the GCC, MENA, Turkey, UK and USA.

Andrew Hornblower

 VCBank’s primary focus is on venture capital and business development, private equity and selective real estate investment opportunities.

Rassmal Investments LLC is a Gulf-based private investment company that specialises in undertaking private equity, real estate and corporate development transactions in the Middle East and the United Kingdom. 

The Dubai-registered group is owned by the Al Shawaf Family.

For more information, please visit hfflp.com or follow HFF on Twitter @HFF.

CONTACTS:

CLAUDIO SGOBBA

HFF Managing Director

44-020 7509 6700

csgobba@hfflp.com

ANDREW HORNBLOWER

HFF Director

44-020 7509 6700

ahornblower@hfflp.com

OLIVIA HENNESSEY

HFF Public Relations Specialist

(713) 852-3403

ohennessey@hfflp.com