Octopus and Bayview team up to offer £450m in loans

Octopus Real Estate has agreed a £450m-plus funding partnership with affiliates of Bayview Asset Management. The partnership will provide two- to five-year senior investment debt to the UK commercial real estate market, with loans of up to £25m. Octopus has lent more than £5bn to UK assets across commercial, residential and development, having identified an undersupply of loans at the smaller end of the debt market. Nick Westoby, commercial fund manager at Octopus Real Estate, said: “The structural undersupply within the sub-£25m part of the market provides significant opportunity and plays to our strengths. The granularity and liquidity of smaller loan sizes have been tested over the pandemic, showing robust performance. The opportunity to partner with Bayview was compelling, given their deep understanding of commercial real estate and wider corporate values.” Pierre Lussato, head of Bayview International, said: “We are very excited to partner with Octopus and help fill a financing gap in the UK real estate markets. This will represent a further foray into non-bank lending for Bayview in Europe.” PwC acted as lead adviser to Octopus on the funding agreement. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews