Gatehouse Bank sells property portfolio to Goldman Sachs for £150m
Gatehouse Bank has sold its Thistle Build to Rent property portfolio to Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Pitmore for circa £150m.
The deal comprises a portfolio of 918 units across 15 sites, predominantly two-and-three-bedroom homes across North-West England in Greater Manchester and Liverpool.
Charles Haresnape, chief executive of Gatehouse Bank, said: “Thistle has not only been a highly performing investment throughout, it has also proved resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is a key consideration in this market.
“As such, a strategic decision was made to exit Thistle and crystalise returns for the investors.
“The marketing process generated a high level of world-class institutional investor interest and we are pleased to announce a deal has been finalised with Goldman Sachs.”
Thistle, a Single-Family Home (SFH) Private Rental Sector (PRS) Fund launched in 2014, is a joint venture between challenger bank Gatehouse, and Sigma Capital Group plc with a total investment in the region of £110m.
Thistle’s occupancy is at 99.8% and rental collection rates of around 98 per cent.
Paul Stockwell, chief commercial officer at Gatehouse Bank, said: “The UK private rented sector has experienced consistent growth over the past five years underpinned by strong supply/demand dynamics.
“We are now looking to further develop our expertise in this sector with the creation of another fund in 2021.”
Advisers to Gatehouse on the deal were PwC and CBRE, with Dentons providing legal representation.
Goldman Sachs and Pitmore were advised by Savills, with Herbert Smith Freehills and Jones Day providing legal representation.
Barclays will be providing loan finance to Goldman Sachs to support the purchase.
PwC and CBRE are now working with Gatehouse to source a new capital partner – maintaining the same investment composition and seeking to grow its single-family PRS portfolio to more than 3,000 units over the next five years through forward-funding direct from developers.
