Prudential Mortgage Capital Company has arranged a $165.8 million loan
to refinance The Waldorf Hilton, a historic luxury hotel located in the
heart of London’s theater district. The deal represents the firm’s
seventh commercial real estate loan since launching its European
business in 2012 and its fifth in the UK. Prudential Mortgage Capital
Company is the commercial mortgage lending business of Prudential
Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU).
The Waldorf Hilton is wholly owned by the Bhatia family, established
London hoteliers with several prominent hotel holdings across London.
The family is led by Gulshan Bhatia who has more than 40 years
experience operating and owning London hotels. The Waldorf Hilton was
originally purchased for the family’s portfolio in 2007 and Prudential
Mortgage Capital Company’s 15-year, fixed-rate loan will be used to
refinance existing debt.
This financing brings Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s secured
commercial real estate loan portfolio in Europe to nearly $1 billion
since its first European loan in June 2012. It is also the first loan
under the new Friends Life investment mandate announced in July, 2013.
Under the $577.7 million discretionary mandate, Friends Life will
participate in large loans originated by Prudential Mortgage Capital
Company, boosting the firm’s single loan limit in the UK to more than
$280 million. The Friends Life co-investment program targets senior
secured, fixed-rate loans with maturities of between 5 and 15 years,
with appetite for assets in London as well as regional England and Wales.
David Gingell, director of European originations for Prudential Mortgage
Capital Company said, “The Waldorf Hilton continues to outperform the
market in a number of key metrics and its trading performance proved
resilient through the recent economic cycle. The location of the
property in the heart of London’s theatre district and its proximity to
Covent Garden will act as long term demand drivers for the hotel. These
characteristics coupled with the opportunity to provide long term
financing to a family who has built their reputation in hotels made this
an extremely attractive transaction.”
“The Waldorf Hilton loan is both testament to Prudential Mortgage
Capital Company’s long-term commitment to European markets and also our
ability to deploy capital on behalf of third party mortgage investors,”
said Drew Abernethy, head of European originations for Prudential
Mortgage Capital Company. “We are proud to have been involved in this
transaction.”
Looking forward to 2014, Prudential Mortgage Capital Company will
continue its focus on senior, fixed-rate commercial real estate debt in
Europe. Its European program offers similar loan structures to those
offered by the company in the US, and as in the US, the company has the
ability to fund individual transactions of significant size.
Notes to editors:
Prudential Mortgage Capital Company is a national full-service,
commercial and multifamily mortgage finance business with more than $74
billion in assets under management and administration as of June 30,
2013. Leveraging a 135-year history of real estate finance, the company
offers one of the most comprehensive lines of real estate finance
products and originates loans for Fannie Mae DUS®, Freddie Mac Program
Plus® and specialized affordable housing programs; FHA; Conduit;
Prudential’s general account and proprietary balance sheet program; and
other institutional investors. The company maintains a loan servicing
portfolio of approximately $71.9 billion, as of June 30, 2013. For more
information, please visit http://www.prumortgagecapital.com.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), a financial services leader with
more than $1 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, 2013,
has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping
individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth
through a variety of products and services, including life insurance,
annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment
management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for
strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century.
For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2013