Real estate finance
Real estate finance is the cornerstone of loan books for many
banks and financial institutions involved in lending. For the
majority of borrowers with real estate assets, this type of finance
is a significant factor within their overall finance package.
The turmoil in the world’s financial markets, coupled with the
dramatic slowdown in real estate markets and rapid recent
devaluation of real estate assets is presenting significant
challenges to all providers and users of real estate finance.
New and existing transactions are all subject to increasing
scrutiny, with covenants and conditions precedent in particular
under regular review. Restructuring, renegotiating and
refinancing is often required – usually within tight timetables –
in order to resolve real or anticipated breaches and to satisfy the
– sometimes conflicting – needs of all parties involved.
The scarcity of finance available is already leading to
innovative and complex solutions – including the incorporation of
mezzanine, junior and subordinated debt structures - and this trend
is expected to continue as more real estate loans reach maturity or
a point where lenders can no longer waive existing breaches.
Our service
Our team comprises lawyers with experience in finance, real estate
and tax and is able to provide a seamless
service, addressing the complications of both small and large
lending transactions seen in real estate.
In the current economic climate our lawyers with experience in
insolvency and dispute resolution are increasingly involved in real
estate finance matters which are in or nearing a distressed
state.
In addition to the more conventional real estate finance work,
we work closely with our Funds Group in
the structuring and setting up of property funds, and their funding
of real estate investments. We also work closely with our Structured Finance and Securitisation Group who
have worked on over sixty RMBS and CMBS securitisation transactions
over the past few years and have a great understanding of the
unique issues arising from these methods of financing.
Our experience
Real estate assets are not necessarily pure investment assets
and there are often significant trading businesses underlying their
value. We have experience in the finance of all types of real
estate assets ranging from major office, retail and residential
developments through institutionally owned properties to trophy
residential properties.
We have particular experience in the hotel
and leisure sector where for the past 20 years we have been
advising owners, operators, investors, funders, developers,
franchisers and others operating within those sectors both within
the UK and internationally.
We also have significant experience in the healthcare sector
where in addition to trading aspects, the business and underlying
assets are subject to heavy regulation.
We act for more than 50 banks and other financial institutions from around the world,
including global and domestic banks and specialist banks.
In all these sectors we are very familiar with the various
ownership and management structures that are used and their impact
on financing, asset values, realisation and enforcement.