Macquarie Capital provides Aerium £106.2 million unitranche financing for London’s iconic Herbal House

Macquarie Capital Principal Finance (Macquarie) has arranged and executed a £106.2 million senior loan to Aerium Finance (Aerium) to refinance its property, Herbal House in central London.

The three-year facility will be funded using capital from Macquarie’s balance sheet. Herbal House is a ten-floor freehold multi-let office and residential building in the heart of Farringdon, central London, totalling c.115,000 square-foot.

The iconic building represents a historic piece of architecture in London, originally constructed in the 1920’s as the printing headquarters for the Daily Mirror, it was purchased by the current owner in 2012 for £26 million. The building underwent a significant refurbishment programme in 2017 where it was expanded and brought up to grade A standard before being let out to its current tenants.

Alexi Antolovich, Global Co-Head Real Estate, Macquarie Capital Principal Finance said: “The landscape for commercial real estate has changed dramatically over the past year. We’re seeing increased demand from sponsors seeking re-capitalisation of high-quality assets in their portfolios and Macquarie is able to support by offering certainty and fast execution.

We are pleased to support Aerium with a re-capitalisation of Herbal House after an extremely successful execution of their long-term business plan to refurbish and re-let the property. We see Herbal House as an excellent example of the modernisation of a former industrial building to deliver an attractive and functional office space perfect to foster collaboration and creativity, which we see as increasingly important to occupiers coming out of lock-down.”

Macquarie’s Principal Finance team provides flexible primary capital and secondary market investing solutions for corporate and commercial real estate clients across Europe, North America, and Australasia. The investment in Herbal House follows the team’s joint venture with Sun Hung Kai & Co and DPK Quay Limited, to acquire London’s 17 Columbus Courtyard from CWT International Limited for around £110 million in December 2019, and the sale of London’s Tavis House at the end of 2020 to HIG Capital for £33.1 million.

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