Blackstone And Banks Sell £798M Of UK Industrial Debt Despite Market Turmoil
About £798M of debt secured against a UK logistics portfolio owned by Blackstone has been bought by bond investors despite volatility in financial markets created by U.S. trade policy.
Three loans from Citigroup were packaged and sold as commercial mortgage-backed securities, Real Estate Capital reported. The margin borrowers have to pay on debt has increased in recent weeks as financial investors react to falling prices in bond markets, equities and the dollar.
The interest rate on the most senior, safest portion of the bonds was 1.35%, REC reported, increasing to 5.5% for the most junior portion. The overall average interest rate was 2.5%.
The three loans underwritten by Citigroup total £840M, according to a presale report from ratings agency Morningstar DRBS. But Citigroup retained 5% of the loans for regulatory reasons, and bonds totalling £798M were ultimately sold to investors, REC said.
The securitisation is the largest in Europe since 2021, and like most recent European CMBS transactions, it is secured against logistics assets.
Those include 108 industrial and industrial outdoor storage assets in the UK, with a concentration around London and the south east. The assets have a combined valuation of £1.35B, Morningstar said in its report.
