Source: Bridging&Commercial
Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management (WAAM), which launched in the UK seven years ago, has completed £300m worth of real estate debt over 127 loans — maintaining a record of zero capital loss.
With a focus on income producing assets, a flexible mandate to lend at higher LTVs and a permanent capital debt fund in Westbrooke Yield Plus (WYP), WAAM’s offering has appealed to borrowers that require flexibility and certainty of execution.
Specific instances of recent deals include borrowers refinancing high-street senior debt where the incumbent lender can no longer get to the same level, trade up bridges, and inventory loans where development finance of residential portfolios need to be repaid, but not all units have been sold yet.
It has been a busy start to the year for WAAM, having completed three transactions.
This includes a £12.5m loan to specialist property investor specialist EPF.
The funding was provided in support of refinancing a mixed portfolio, comprising a blend of prime London office space and retail and leisure premises.
The other two deals included funding the acquisition of a holiday park in Cornwall by a local developer, as well as the acquisition of a retail and residential asset in Bristol by an investment group.
“The key to operating in the current environment is having a clear risk framework under which to assess deals, which allows our team to respond quickly to brokers or borrowers when enquiries come in, and then to deliver on these terms in a timely manner,” said James Lightbody, head of real estate at WAAM (pictured above).
He added: “There are several lenders that are failing to deliver on their terms.
“Our permanent capital fund, coupled with a shareholder underwrite facility removes this risk and provides borrowers with certainty that they need at this time.”
Since launch, WAAM’s team focuses on directly originating loans with various owner-operators, sponsors and intermediaries of real estate properties.
It seeks to provide flexible financing across a potential borrower’s capital structure, while maintaining strong alignment with borrowers at all times.
