Refinancing agreed for Quintain for further development of Wembley Park

From the Financial Times
 

London developer Quintain has agreed a new £800m corporate development facility following its acquisition by Lone Star Real Estate Fund IV in September last year.

Wells Fargo, AIG and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) three of the biggest global, institutional lenders, have agreed to provide a five-year corporate development facility to Quintain to support the transformation and further development of Wembley Park.

The loan also refinances the existing £425m facility provided by Wells Fargo to support the acquisition of Quintain by Lone Star.

The revolving senior loan, led by Wells Fargo as Agent, and AIG and Wells Fargo as Co-Arrangers, combined with a 36-month availability period under the junior facility, provided by CPPIB, is innovatively structured to offer operational flexibility for Quintain to recycle capital efficiently from non-core assets into the Wembley Park Masterplan.

The refinancing follows approval in May from Brent Council for a new Masterplan for Wembley Park, which aims to transform Wembley Park from a world class events destination into a thriving London neighbourhood, with an exciting combination of new homes, iconic venues, great shops, public spaces and workspaces. 

Quintain’s plans will deliver almost half of Brent Council’s target for new homes delivery as well as 1 million sq ft of new, high quality offices and workspaces which will create the opportunity for more than 7,000 new jobs. The development also features a significant upgrade to the famous Olympic Way (known as “Wembley Way” to football fans) and a new seven‐acre park, equivalent in size to four Wembley football pitches.

Quintain gobbles up another chunk of Wembley as Fountain Studios sold off

Fountain Studios, Wembley Park Road

Local landmark Fountain Studios has been sold to Quintain for £16m. The studios have been used for Britain's Got Talent and the X Factor and excited queues of fans, some on step ladders to see over the fence, are a familiar sight in Wembley.

In the year to the end of September,  Fountain made a loss of £300k on sales of £5.3m, around 4% of the parent company, Avesco's, turnover.

It is likely that the Studios will eventually close with the loss of local jobs, although it is reported that a leaseback agreement has been agreed for a unspecified period. Presumably that will enable the Studios to fulfill any contracts already signed.  Local businesses, including restaurants and pubs, will also lose out with the loss of custom from the production audiences.

Quintain is likely to build housing on the site with some retail on the lines of the ALTO development further down the road.  Given the location and Quintain's aims to maximise profits these are highly unlkely to be social housing.

Quintain itself was taken over the Texan Lone Star Real Estate last year for £745m.