We act for the property and project-finance teams of major UK and international banks, funds and property purchasers, and owners. We undertake full property due diligence and reporting to clients who are funding properties and developments.

Our team acts for a wide range of borrowers to help them put in place finance and source finance, and negotiate the terms and documentation

We help clients structure transactions to manage risk, which is especially important on larger projects and developments. We understand the importance of choosing the right ownership structure, given the stamp duty land tax and other tax implications of choosing the wrong ownership arrangements.

We advise on:

• bilateral and syndicated loans and loan note structures

• security and inter-creditor documentation and issues

• step-in arrangements, duty of care deeds and Section 106/CIL issues

• framework and project agreements

• planning issues

• construction documentation

• insurance arrangements and house-builder guarantees

• collateral from third parties and group entities and recourse limitations on trust and other structures

• operating agreements

• security over rental income, cash-sweep mechanisms, and security for cost-overruns

• security over shares in management and special purpose vehicle property owner companies

• availability of tax allowances and the impact on the lending and security proposition

How we work:

It is essential to any financing that the value of commercial property investments are underpinned by properties with good titles, with all necessary rights and planning permissions, and with risks raised by environmental, highways and construction issues properly managed and regulatory aspects understood and properly addressed.

Our dynamic and commercial team has a real insight into the key issues in property finance transactions, but this is only part of the story. Our cross-discipline teams can identify the right finance and security structures, and then provide the essential advice and high-quality due diligence effectively and speedily to achieve our clients’ objectives, minimising risk and maximising returns.

Our expertise:

We are familiar with all types of deal structures, and work with a wide range of lenders and property owners, including public sector bodies, substantial private landowners, charities and local government.

Property and project finance teams of major UK and international banks, funds, property purchasers and owners value our individual and collective expertise.

We are on the panel for leading finance providers and two national house builders, and are project solicitors for the Cambourne New Town. Our team also has decades of experience of working for the house-building industry.

Our experience:

• acting on an institutional refinancing of a 650-residential unit riverside housing scheme with associated infrastructure and commercial elements together with development finance for construction with a £135m build value
   

• undertaking full due diligence and reporting to the lender on a shopping centre financing together with a full security package
   

• acting for an overseas bank on the £33m financing of the acquisition of a mixed-use housing, leisure and commercial scheme with special focus on Section 106 agreement non-compliance and remedy to the lender’s satisfaction
   

• working on the funding of the world’s largest tree-house
   

• advising on the financing of the redevelopment of one of the twenty most-visited amusement parks in the world, taking security over hotels, the theme park, the rides and full due diligence on licensing agreements with film studios
   

• working on the financing of the acquisition of the UK’s largest car parks operator
   

• splitting pubco chains into opco and propco structures to maximise leverage, and working on the post-default restructuring of the portfolios with the agent bank’s intensive-care team
   

• helping structure financing of major-high street retailers through pre-pack administration into special purpose vehicle portfolios to maximise funding and de-risk the ongoing business
   

• due-diligencing property-backed loan book portfolios on acquisitions of performing and non-performing portfolios, re-packaging the portfolios, producing the information memoranda for purchasers, and providing the legal interface with purchasers’ lawyers
   

• working on the financing of the acquisition of the country’s largest toxic-waste-to-power plant with full environmental, planning and licensing due-diligence and reporting to the purchaser and its funding group