United Trust Bank (UTB) has financed the acquisition of two light industrial premises as part of a site assembly plan by Apex Capital Partners that could lead to the creation of 156 new apartments in south London.
Apex Capital Partners is a private equity real estate manager founded in 2019 by experienced developers Paul Benardout and Jonathan Kor. The company focuses on the acquisition, development, asset management and operation of opportunity assets throughout Greater London, using its experience and repositioning strategies to produce higher capital values.
Laurence Foux of Business Finance 1st Ltd, approached UTB on behalf of Apex Capital Partners in June 2020 to fund the purchase of an industrial warehouse in the centre of the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area which Apex believed had potential for redevelopment. With UTB funding that acquisition, Apex spent the next six months negotiating with the owners of two adjoining light industrial premises with a view to assembling a residential-led, mixed-use scheme. With no planning in place, Apex wished to finance the purchase of the two additional sites based on their commercial values and subsequently add significant value by pursuing an ambitious planning application to create 156 new homes in three new apartment blocks with ground floor commercial space.
UTB’s Structured Finance team joined the project and quickly assessed the three properties, which were fully let, and proposed a new £5.33m facility which included refinancing the first property acquired by Apex in June 2020. UTB progressed the proposal quickly and although there were additional challenges presented by the early 2021 pandemic lockdown, the proposal moved from credit approval to facility drawdown in little more than three weeks.
Paul Benardout, director of Apex Capital Partners, said: “I’m very excited about this project and I’ve been delighted with UTB’s support to date. Their approach was refreshing. Rather than simply looking at the acquisitions as one off transactions, they were interested in our business, our ambitions for the future and how they could support our growth moving forward. This, coupled with their speed and efficiency in delivering what we needed, gave me confidence that we were building a long term relationship with a reliable funding partner which understood Apex and what we wish to acheive. I hope this will be the first of many successful collaborations with UTB.”
