Sam Le Pard joins the Arc & Co. team

The Arc & Co team continues to expand. Following the arrival of Tom Savill and Jeremy Robinson earlier this year, we now welcome Sam Le Pard to the Commercial and Development team.

Sam joins Arc & Co following three months of training in the Arc & Co. Academy. Sam was previously a trainee solicitor at Freshfields, working in London, Dubai and Singapore and gained a first-class history degree from the University of Nottingham. Sam’s addition enhances the range of skills and experiences in the Arc & Co team.

Arc & Co. - Development Finance Broker of the Year

Last night in the presence of more than 700 industry professionals from leading financial institutions and trade bodies at the prestigious Royal Lancaster London hotel, the winners of the 2018 Business Moneyfacts Awards were announced.

For the second year in a row, Arc & Co. Structured Finance were presented with the Development Finance Broker of the Year award by the evening’s host, Claudia Winkleman.  Thanks to diligent research by Moneyfacts experts, companies and brokers who won, or received highly commended or commended trophies, are considered to be truly the best in class.

Each eligible organisation was scrutinised so that only those who throughout the last 12 months have consistently offered the most competitive products, the highest service levels and shown the greatest innovation in the business and commercial finance world were deemed worthy of the various trophies available.

Lee Tillcock, editor of Business Moneyfacts, said: "Another year of political uncertainty has not stopped the continuing revival in the development finance sector. The last 12 months has proven to be more profitable for many developers and as the appetite for funding grows, brokers and providers have embraced the opportunity to boost trading and growth levels.

Andrew Robinson, Chairman of Arc & Co. said: “it’s an absolute privilege to have won this award for a second year straight.  It reflects the effort, professionalism and hard work of the team over the past 12 months and we hope to be back next year with another strong submission”

Arc & Co. sponsor the first Private Client Dining event of the year

Private wealth industry professionals from London and other major financial centres are set to gather at a prestigious event hosted by the Private Client Dining (PCD) Club at The Churchill hotel in London on March 8, 2018.

PCD Club describes itself as the premier business networking club for international private wealth professionals around the globe, and its members include recognized industry-leading figures from the legal, banking, investment management, property and finance sectors.

Professionals in London, who advise high net worth individuals, have been invited to attend PCD Club’s dinner in the city on March 8th.  The event will be attended by professionals including lawyers, accountants, trustees, property advisors, investment managers and private bankers who advise private clients on wealth planning, trusts, retirement planning, tax, succession, investment and other key issues.

David Bell, founder of PCD Club, said: “We are delighted to be back in London next month – our London dinners are always a sell-out and we are expecting over 120 professionals at our first event in the capital this year. This event will be a great opportunity for members to make new connections and to expand their professional network and referral sources on an international basis.”

Andrew Robinson, CEO of Arc & Co, added: “Arc & Co is delighted to sponsor the first PCD Club dinner of the year. We have had a long association with the network and have derived business benefit from our membership over this period of time. Sponsorship enables us to amplify our message to a large audience of professionals in a very targeted and efficient way.”

The beginning of March and another new team member

Following the arrival of Jeremy in January we are pushing ahead with our plans for growth and skills diversity with the addition of Tom Savill to the Structured and Development team.

Tom joins Arc & Co. having spent the past 6 months on our training program. Tom gained a Bachelor’s degree in business from the university of Oxford Brookes and uses the valuable skills gained from past experiences to aid and enhance the Commercial and Development team.

Arc&Co. successfully advise on the finance of 50 meter Codecasa

Leon Batchelor, Managing Director of Arc & Co. Marine and Aviation has sucessfully adviced on the finance on a 50 meter Codecasa Yacht on behalf of a Middle Eastern Client.

Please see below for details:

Client: Middle Eastern
Yacht: 50 meter Codecasa
Loan to value: 50%
Term: 5 Years
Structure: 'pure' yacht mortgage without private banking

Photo credit: Codecasa Shipyards

Codecasa Shipyards, established in Viareggio back in 1825 by the shipwright Giovanni Battista Codecasa, are an absolutely prominent reality in the luxury yachting industry and are known all over the world as builders of steel and light alloy motoryachts, ranging from 30 to 70 meters LOA.

Still run by the founder’s heirs, nowadays the Codecasa Shipyards Group is able to offer a wide range of Yachts, featured by top quality, technologic innovation, reliability, design and comfort.

Lending Focus Seminar

It’s always a privilege when a team member is called upon to give his opinion on the finance market.  Taylor Wessing’s ‘Lending Focus’ series of seminars has experts from across the Taylor Wessing network presenting on a range of hot topics and market updates.  This week saw Edward Horn-Smith as the guest speaker giving a presentation entitled ‘Trends, Terms and Tensions for the mezzanine finance market’ at Taylor Wessing’s New Street Square offices in London.

Arc & Co. advise Allies Group on £11 million of funding

Arc & Co. has successfully advised the developer Allies Group, on the acquisition and construction finance for the Clarendon House site in central Reading. The project has planning consent for a permitted development scheme of forty-nine self-contained apartments which will form part of major works on phase 1. Planning for phases 2 and 3 are currently being submitted and this will see the scheme grow to circa one hundred residential apartments.  The design will make it an exemplary addition to the fast-growing Reading town.

To assist with the purchase and development, Arc & Co. structured a facility in excess of £11 million with the opportunity for further funding when the planning consent is approved for phases 2 and 3.

Charlie Armstrong said: “Arc & Co. are delighted to have worked alongside Allies Group to structure the debt for this project and to bring forward a scheme that will no doubt be a fantastic addition to the housing stock in central Reading”.

Mario Luca Balducci, Chairman of Allies Group said: “Arc & Co. understood our business model exceptionally well and provided quick, efficient and effective solutions which were beyond typical structured finance arrangements”.

Arc & Co. advises Ktesius on landmark residential scheme in central Brighton

John Kerrigan, Director of Arc & Co. Structured Finance, has successfully advised the developer, Kteisus, on the acquisition and construction finance for the Astoria Cinema site in the heart of Brighton.  The project has full planning consent for the demolition of the existing building to create a mixed use scheme comprising of 70 private residential units, a gym, TV room, ground floor commercial space and 72 cycle spaces.

To assist the purchase and subsequent development, Arc & Co. structured a facility in excess of £20m with an institutional development funder.  This enables Ktesius to secure the site and deliver the development in 2019, forming a new mixed-use residential-led scheme which will bring vitality to the area.

John Kerrigan said: “Arc & Co. are proud to have supported Ktesius to achieve the purchase of this landmark development site in the centre of Brighton. We look forward to assisting them with their future funding requirements”.

Ken MacRae from Ktesius added: “John and the Arc & Co. team are extremely focussed and effective, and we will certainly engage them in the future to advise on debt structuring.”

Arc & Co. advises Inspired on funding for two home county residential schemes with a combined GDV of £27m

The first, Bridge House is a 61-apartment scheme in Chertsey includes a £12.9m senior loan from Amicus.

Bridge House, an early 2000s office building, will be refurbished and extended to provide 39 one and two-bedroom micro-apartments and 22 standard-sized one and two-bedroom apartments close to Chertsey Bridge and the River Thames. The scheme has an estimated GDV of £20.4m. Chertsey is an employment hub with Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Procter & Gamble and McLaren all nearby.

The second secures £5.2m for a 25-unit build to rent scheme in Farnborough includes a £3.9m senior loan from Octopus.

25 two and three-bedroom maisonettes off Westmead in Farnborough town centre will be refurbished and reconfigured to create high-spec flat shares for rent on a room by room basis. The scheme has an estimated GDV of £6.2m and is situated just 0.4 miles from the railway station for a fast 34-minute train to London Waterloo.  

John Kerrigan, Director at Arc & Co. Structured Finance, said: “The completion of these two high calibre development transactions, along with the £44m Impact House development loan, concludes a very busy, but successful period for Arc & Co, Inspired and our funding partners. To complete three development transactions of this scale and complexity could not have been achieved without very close working relationships between all of the key parties involved.”

Keith Aldridge, Managing Director at Amicus Property Finance, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support this project – a relatively complex deal, driven to success by an experienced and proactive developer and broker, plus valuers Kempton Carr Croft and FieldFisher who managed the legalities. Overall, this is a great example of where effective stakeholder collaboration worked in partnership with our experienced underwriting team to deliver a great result.”

Emma Burke, Head of Development Origination at Octopus, said: “We were delighted to work with Arc & Co., one of our key partners, to structure and fund Inspired’s latest development scheme with our new 65% LTGDV low cost senior stretch development product. This is an extremely well-located residential scheme and forms part of an exciting development portfolio.”

Arc & Co. advise Inspired on securing £44m development loan for flagship scheme Impact House

Inspired Asset Management has secured development finance for Impact House, its £90m GDV, 235-apartment scheme on Croydon’s Edridge Road.

A total of £61.5m was raised through a blend of senior development and mezzanine finance. Arc & Co. advised on the structure of the £44m senior loan from GreenOak.

The development will comprise 197 one and two-bedroom micro-apartments and 38 larger one, two and three-bedroom apartments built to the nationally described space standard, including four exclusive duplex penthouses. Residents will also have access to a ninth-floor communal rooftop terrace and a Wi-Fi Ready club lounge on the ground floor. The apartments will be designed to a high specification, including hardwood flooring, granite worktops and designer bathrooms.

Predominantly a permitted development scheme, Inspired received planning permission to convert the upper floors of the former office building to residential in April this year.

Built in the 1960s, Impact House was extended and refurbished in 2010 before being purchased by Inspired for £25m in 2015. With construction commencing this month, the iconic 16-story building is set to undergo a radical transformation that will see it stripped back to the core and reskinned with an all new contemporary residential facade.

Commenting, Martin Skinner, Chief Executive at Inspired Asset Management, said: “We are thrilled to get funding for what will be our largest scheme to date. The team has worked extremely hard to get it over the line and it is probably the first time in six months that I have seen my finance director with a beaming smile. One thing is for sure, this is going to be a special development that is going to make an Impact in Croydon.”

John Kerrigan – Director at Arc & Co. Structured Finance stated that “Arc & Co. have been privileged to advise Inspired on the funding structure for Impact House, from acquisition right through to development. It is true testament to the quality of this flagship scheme, and the calibre of Inspired, that a development facility of this size and complexity has been structured.”

With prices starting at £304,950 for a one-bedroom micro-apartment, more than 100 apartments have already been reserved.