Omni Capital launches International Structured Finance division

By Bridging Loan Directory 7th March 2014

Christian Candy-backed Omni Capital – one of the UK’s leading providers of short and medium-term residential property funding – has launched an international structured finance division offering residential and commercial loans of up to £250 million.

To be branded ‘Omni Capital Structured Finance’, the new funding division will be managed and developed by former managing director of Eurohypo, Dan Smith, and will appeal to experienced international real estate professionals looking to access substantial funding for property investment and development purposes.

Amounts from £5 million to £250 million are available on a whole loan, junior debt or mezzanine finance basis, and both residential and commercial projects will be considered over short or medium-term lending durations.

In an acknowledgement of world-wide real estate opportunities, the CPC Group-owned lender said its structured finance proposition is available for suitable projects in the UK, Europe and the United States.

Consistent with Omni Capital’s established approach to risk, all underwriting will be performed under Smith’s supervision on a bespoke case-by-case basis to ensure every aspect of each proposal, however nuanced, is fully considered.

Dan Smith, pictured, said:

“Omni Capital Structured Finance will provide fast robust underwriting and offer borrowers whole loans or subordinated debt in both the short and medium term. In a market where speed is often crucial to secure transactions, Omni Capital’s fast approval process and ability to provide high leverage allows it to react to borrowers requirements in what continues to be a difficult debt market for anything but vanilla transactions.

Colin Sanders, Omni Capital’s CEO, added:

“The launch of our new funding division is a significant milestone in Omni Capital’s corporate expansion and continued forward trajectory. With Dan Smith’s extensive experience in real estate structured finance, our new proposition is the perfect complementary vehicle through which to project the Omni Capital brand into markets previously unavailable to us.

“While the UK – and London in particular – remains the focus of our attention, our move into international structured finance provides a further opportunity to challenge the faltering hegemony of the big banks.”

Omni Capital’s announcement follows news of its recent completion of a record-breaking £127.5m bridging facility for the purchase and development of an iconic central London property close to Buckingham Palace. Over the past two years, the lender has provided more than £400 million of fresh liquidity to the UK residential property sector.