ICG-Longbow seals £500m first close for new debt fund

ICG-Longbow has reached a £500m first close of its latest senior debt vehicle, with investments including a £25m loan to regeneration specialist Urban Splash. Senior Debt Programme Vintage IV, ICG-Longbow’s fourth such fund, will target mid-market lending opportunities in London and the regions, ranging from £10m to £100m. More than £150m of the latest fund has been invested across seven transactions, including a £25.1m loan to Urban Splash to back the regeneration of the Royal William Yard mixed-use scheme in Plymouth, Devon (pictured). Investors that had committed to the firm’s previous three vehicles have backed the new programme, as well as new investors, including public and private sector pension funds. ICG-Longbow expects the returns of the strategy to outperform “all property” total returns, based on IPF consensus forecasts from 2019 to 2023. The close comes less than a year after ICG-Longbow reached full investment of its third debt programme, which lent £430m across 18 transactions. “In an uncertain political and economic environment, we believe the success of this fundraise shows that investors remain attracted to senior lending strategies with proven managers as a defensive means of gaining exposure to real estate,” said David Mortimer, head of senior debt at ICG-Longbow. ICG-Longbow had more than £3.7bn of assets under management across senior debt, partnership capital, residential development finance and sale-and-leaseback at the end of September 2019. To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette