Canadian investment manager giant Brookfield has refinanced two UK retail outlet centres owned by LaSalle Investment Management for £450 million in its largest European property loan transaction.
The two assets were acquired by LaSalle Investment Management in 2022 and are managed by McArthurGlen. Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet and Swindon Designer Outlet are ranked number one and number five respectively based on footfall and sales performance in the UK.
It is Brookfield’s largest loan in Europe through its real estate credit strategy which is focused on senior debt lending to high-quality borrowers. The group expects to deploy significant levels of capital over the next 12 months with the announcement following the real estate credit strategy’s £320 million fully-funded loan to support the development of a scaled single family rental portfolio in the UK in November 2024.
It forms part of Brookfield's C$332 billion credit business which has strategies across real estate credit, infrastructure credit, asset-backed finance, and corporate credit.
The financing is understood to refinance an initial acquisition loan provided to LaSalle when it bought the assets in 2022. Apollo Global Management provided LaSalle Asset Management with a £407 million 5-year loan to finance its £600 million purchase.
LaSalle completed the purchase from Nuveen in a deal first tipped by CoStar News. The investment at a yield of around 6% was made through LaSalle’s value-add investments business line.
Most of the portfolio value comes from Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, the largest centre in the UK, which is spread over 400,000 square feet and made up of over 160 individual units. The outlet is home primarily to premium brands, with occupiers including Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren and Nike.
The smaller of the assets, Swindon Designer Outlet, has over 250,000 square feet. The outlet includes 100 stores, with Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Lacoste among the occupiers.