Charles Russell Speechlys advises Silbury Finance (backed by Oaktree Capital Management) on a £59.3m facility to a leading integrated retirement communities operator, Audley Group.
Charles Russell Speechlys advises Silbury Finance (backed by Oaktree Capital Management) on a £59.3m investment facility to a leading integrated retirement communities operator, Audley Group, to refinance existing bank indebtedness and to finance an equity release to Audley Group to support it during the sales period of the final 118 units at four separate fully-operational integrated retirement communities in the UK.
The villages are located in Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Worcestershire and Birmingham and offer luxury housing with on-site facilities such as swimming pools, gyms and restaurants together with access to support services.
This is the fourth loan underwritten by Silbury Finance in the integrated retirement communities sector since their inception and is a key transaction for them as they target £450m of lending this financial year. Investment in the UK retirement living space has grown significantly in prominence in recent years and Silbury Finance is a market leader in offering tailored debt solutions to operators and developers in this area.
This is also the second deal that our team has completed for Silbury Finance since August (with an aggregate debt amount of £133m), which means that despite current market instability Silbury are still on track to meet their lending targets.
Jon Bond (partner at Charles Russell Speechlys) commented, “We are delighted to have completed a second deal in a short period of time with Silbury. Our teams collaborate closely and we look forward to working with Silbury on future deals”.
Speaking of the deal, founding partner Gavin Eustace commented, “The structural trends underpinning the UK retirement living investment case are highly compelling (namely a rapidly ageing population and a significant shortfall of suitable accommodation) and we view it as highly defensive compared to other real estate subsectors in the current high inflation environment. Despite current market volatility, our deal pipeline is strong which should enable us, in partnership with best-in class sponsors, to maintain our loan book growth.
Charles Russell Speechlys’ is our go-to firm when it comes to strategically important deals. Their knowledge and commercial approach to complex matters make them a great partner on key transactions”.
The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by Jon Bond, with Cara Whiffin and Isobel Young-Herries (Banking and Finance), Simon Ewing, Aidan Welton, Ruby Dalal, Michelle Noble and Vanessa Jones (Real Estate), James Worthington and Melanie Hardingham (Construction), Rachael Davidson and Helen Coward (Tax).
