Fiduciam grants €5 million bridging loan against French real estate portfolio

By Bridging Loan Directory 13th November 2018

Fiduciam, the institutionally funded and pension-fund owned lender, has completed its first loan secured on French real estate. The €5 million bridging loan is secured against a portfolio of French properties, including a hotel. The loan was granted for a term of two years.

Fiduciam is a pioneer exporting British financial expertise to other European countries; while bridging is long-established in the UK and US, in the rest of Europe it is a relatively undeveloped market. Fiduciam is not new at lending in Europe however, it completed its first bridging loan in the Netherlands in 2015 and its first loan in Ireland in 2016.

Demand in the Netherlands has become so strong, Fiduciam established an office there earlier this year to cater for growing demand in the local market. It also has a strong following amongst Irish real estate professionals, farmers, manufacturing companies and entrepreneurs.

Last year, Fiduciam expanded into Spain; initially its bridging and development loans were aimed at UK developers in Spain who were often trying to extract liquidity from their Spanish real estate, but now Fiduciam also caters for the domestic market.

This latest deal in France marks the next stage of Fiduciam’s expansion into continental Europe and is a truly multi-national deal, involving legal teams in the UK, France and Switzerland, which is where the client lives.

Johan Groothaert, pictured, CEO and co-founder of Fiduciam explains:

“International owners of French real estate often find it very difficult to obtain finance from local banks. Only a few private banks are open to these clients and they require the clients to move part of their private banking portfolio to them.”

“So we have developed a genuinely innovative structure to lend against French real estate whereby we can take security without having to take a mortgage in many cases, and our interest rates are at the same levels as in the UK. By lending in this way, Fiduciam is able to save its clients from paying the stamp duty and notary fees, which can be very high in France.”

In order to develop and expand their offering in this growing area, Fiduciam has hired three French case managers, all based in London.

Johan continues:

“We are currently working on several other loans secured over real estate in France so expect to be announcing our next completed deal again soon.”

Dino Wyatt, an international mortgage specialist adds:

“We are very pleased that Fiduciam has developed this innovative new bridging product for French real estate; it was long overdue and we have a number of clients desperate for this type of loan.”

“The Fiduciam product now allows foreign investors in French property to obtain short-term finance against their French real estate at competitive bridging terms in a way that was not widely available until now.”

To find out more information visit: www.fiduciam.co.uk