Hilco Real Estate Finance deploys £50m in four months

Hilco Real Estate Finance (HREF) was launched last summer and is led by chief executive Brad Altberger alongside chief investment officer Max Lewis. 

It is headquartered in London and operates across the UK. HREF said it had seen a “strong demand” for its products and had a “large pipeline”. 

HREF provides short-term loans, development and refinance exits against real estate projects with loan sizes ranging from £1m to more than £50m. 

Hilco Real Estate Finance: ‘Get loans done rapidly’

Andrew Ward (pictured, right), managing director of HREF, said: “We identified a need for entrepreneurial, reliable, and rapid secured lending above the £10m level where many independent sources of funding have to tap out or are forced to ‘club’ a deal, and that’s where we’re focused, with our first five deals averaging £10m in value.

“As we are able to deploy our own capital to borrowers in any industry, and because we aren’t encumbered with the regulatory and policy frameworks of larger institutional banks, we can get loans done rapidly in complex situations, with sensible structures and due diligence.” 

The finance provided include a £23m loan against a roadside infrastructure in the South East, a £13m loan for a 130-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) block and 100-bed residential block in Yorkshire, and a £10m bridge against two care homes in London and Dover. 

Sean Adams (pictured, left), managing director of HREF, added: “Our five latest lends demonstrate our diversity, with deals across the UK in a range of sectors, so far including care, residential, industrial, student accommodation and agriculture. 

“Given the significant resources behind us, we can cope with any volume and size of transactions and have the benefit of being able to make decisions and deploy funds swiftly. We expect to complete at least another 10-15 deals over the next six months and lend in excess of £150m, as part of our longer-term goals to invest over £500m in the UK real estate secured lending space.” 

Adams said: “We are currently receiving a good volume of enquiries as fixed rate and fixed-term transactions come to an end, with many companies now breaking banking covenants. While base rates may start to fall in 2024 as inflation pressure eases, with so much geo-political global uncertainty, we expect demand for capital to continue to gain momentum as businesses seek facilities from a reliable, ‘non-criteria led’ lender able to look at a broad range of loans that don’t fit the typical lending mould.” 

Ward and Adams are supported by director Adrian Hogan (pictured, middle).