Urban Splash refinances debts worth £135m

By Bridging Loan Directory 14th April 2014

Manchester property developer Urban Splash has refinanced debts of £135m with the London-based investor The Pears Group according to BusinessDesk.com.

Pears’ finance will replace loans provided by a syndicate of banks that includes RBS, Co-op, HSBC and Blackstone.

The company has also agreed a new joint venture with Pears to fund its “Braun” portfolio which has 35 properties including Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, the Matchworks in Liverpool and Smithfield Buildings in Manchester.

Chairman Tom Bloxham said:

“Since 2008 our company, like virtually every other in our sector, has been restricted by its debt burden. It is sad to see how few other Northern property development companies have even survived. It has been a tough five years for the industry, but I’m proud that during that time we were able to deliver some great award winning projects.

“We have also been working hard since 2011 to refinance our debt and form new joint venture relationships with strong stable financial partners. This deal with Pears will allow Urban Splash to continue to do what we do best – develop and manage ground breaking and award winning regeneration schemes across the UK; something we’ve done for more than 20 years.”

He added: “This is part of our Urban Splash strategy to refinance our bank debt and form new long-term joint ventures with strong partners. It comes following the JV partnership we established last year with Places for People; one of the UK’s biggest landlords. This partnership with Pears, a large private property business with huge experience in the UK property market, is the next stage in our plan. We look forward to working with Jonathan Rose, group managing director of Pears, and his team on this and other projects.”

Mr Rose said:

“We have been delighted to assist Tom and the Urban Splash team in their refinance. We look forward to working together.”