The latest transaction, announced by Valor within the last week, involves a £64m construction financing facility from real estate investment firm BentallGreenOak (BGO) to build a 216,000 square-foot sustainable logistics estate in Beckton, London.
Valor is a pan-European real estate investment and asset management platform specialising in the urban logistics and industrial sector. It manages a 175+ asset portfolio totalling more than ten million square feet and more than €3bn assets under management on behalf of a number of global investors.
The five-year loan with BGO represents the first transaction between the two parties, and will enable Valor to refinance the original acquisition of the 10-acre site and develop four logistics units.
The deal with BGO follows another major Valor transaction announced in December 2023, also facilitated by Simmons, involving a £101m debt facility from Canada Life Asset Management.
The Canada Life transaction is secured against five logistics properties across inner London and was also a five year loan. As with BGO, the arrangement is a first for Valor - adding another leading global institution to its pool of lending partners.
Finally, Simmons also supported Valor earlier in the year with an £80m investment loan which closed in August, provided by PGIM Real Estate and secured on a further 11 London assets.
A Simmons team comprising of its real estate, banking, construction, planning, tax and corporate practices across the UK and Luxembourg, advised Valor on the three separate deals.
The cross-practice, cross-border team was led by Mark Waghorn, partner and head of the firm's UK real estate finance practice, and real estate partner James Curry. They were closely supported by of counsel Ronan Armstrong and supervising associate Sophie Devlin (banking) and supervising associate Thomas Sharman and associate Lydia Brecknell (real estate).
Commenting on the transactions, Mark Waghorn said: "We are very pleased to have brought our expertise from across the firm to support Valor on these three major real estate financings - each closing within a short period of time. These transactions with leading global institutions expand Valor's lending relationships with new agreements and demonstrate that financing is available for high-quality specialists like Valor. Our team at Simmons look forward to continuing to support Valor's acquisitions, asset management and financing requirements as a trusted adviser."
Matthew Phillips, Partner and Head of Finance and Operations at Valor Real Estate Partners, said: "We have worked with Simmons on a pan-European basis for a number of years across all aspects of real estate acquisitions, financing and asset management. We really appreciate the Simmons team effort to close these financings quickly, enabling us to focus on redeploying the capital into best-in-class logistics assets across European major cities.
"Simmons helped us navigate deal complexity and simplify issues resulting in an efficient execution and we are pleased to have expanded our lender base with blue-chip institutions this year. The successful completion of these financings is also a testament to the Valor team's dedication and the robustness of our investment strategy, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead in 2024 and beyond to create value for our investors and stakeholders."