Oaktree-backed lender provides £59m loan for Audley villages
Oaktree Capital Management-backed Silbury Finance has provided retirement village operator Audley Group with a £59m investment facility, secured against four retirement villages located across Greater London and the Midlands.
The two-year, 75% LTV facility refinances an existing loan and will support Audley as it progresses with the sale of the final 118 homes across the four villages.
The homes are located in Chalfont Dene in Buckinghamshire, Cooper’s Hill in Surrey, Ellerslie in Worcestershire and St George’s Place, Birmingham, areas characterised by an affluent and ageing population.
Oaktree Capital Management-backed Silbury Finance has provided retirement village operator Audley Group with a £59m investment facility, secured against four retirement villages located across Greater London and the Midlands.
The two-year, 75% LTV facility refinances an existing loan and will support Audley as it progresses with the sale of the final 118 homes across the four villages.
The homes are located in Chalfont Dene in Buckinghamshire, Cooper’s Hill in Surrey, Ellerslie in Worcestershire and St George’s Place, Birmingham, areas characterised by an affluent and ageing population.
Comprising 466 homes in total, each of the villages offers high-quality retirement living, with facilities including swimming pool, gym, hair salon, library and restaurant, as well as access to landscaped environments. Support services are also available at all the villages for property owners and the local community 24 hours a day through Audley Care.
In line with Silbury Finance’s commitment to funding real estate that meets the highest social and environmental standards, the sustainability performance of each scheme is subject to regular external benchmarking.
Inclusive of this transaction, Silbury has now provided £200m of funding in the retirement living sector, across seven schemes.
This is the second loan Silbury has provided Audley.
Gavin Eustace, founding partner of Silbury Finance, said: “The structural trends underpinning the UK retirement living investment case are highly compelling, namely a rapidly growing population of over 65s and the significant shortfall of suitable accommodation. We also view it as highly defensive versus other real estate subsectors in the current high inflation environment, given the wealth preservation characteristics of its end-user.
“The pool of lenders with the track record, expertise and funding certainty to consistently underwrite larger loans in the space is small. 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.”
Audley Group chief finance officer Gary Burton added: “This facility is a progressive step forward for Audley, increasing leverage for a smaller security pool, and for the integrated retirement sector more generally. Our sector is chronically underserved and prime for expansion, driven by an ageing population, increasing demand and growing investment levels.”
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Image from FTI Consulting
