FRP’s Real Estate Advisory team has completed a £3.3m commercial property refinance for a three-asset portfolio comprising two central London offices and an industrial property in Staffordshire, with one of the London assets currently vacant.
The portfolio, valued at approximately £7.45m, secured a three-year loan at 44% loan-to-value without personal guarantees. The facility replaces existing debt previously held with two separate lenders.
Portfolio structure and financing approach
The lender assessed the portfolio on a whole-portfolio basis rather than evaluating each asset individually. This approach took into account the let assets, including a long-let property in Staffordshire occupied by an institutionally backed consumer brand, alongside recent market interest in the vacant London office.
The deal originated through FRP’s Birmingham restructuring team, which identified the refinancing requirement and referred the case internally to the Real Estate Advisory division. The transaction involved a Mauritian trust structure and required the borrower to sell a separate property to partially repay existing debt prior to completion.
Market context
The transaction comes as commercial lending rates remain elevated, with borrowers weighing cost against lender flexibility. According to Sam Beaumont, finance advisor with FRP’s Real Estate Advisory team, alternative facilities offered lower rates, but the client prioritised the lender’s approach to structuring solutions for complex portfolios.
The deal reflects broader activity in the specialist commercial lending market, where multi-asset portfolios with vacancy challenges require tailored financing structures.
Regional spread
The portfolio’s geographic distribution across London and the Midlands presented additional complexity for the refinancing structure, requiring a lender willing to underwrite mixed-use assets across different regional markets.
Beaumont noted that the internal referral process enabled the client to access specialist finance advisory without engaging external advisors for different aspects of the transaction.
