AustralianSuper enters U.K. commercial real estate debt market

AustralianSuper has teamed up with TH Real Estate to provide a £280 million ($368 million) development facility to Malaysian conglomerate MTD Group for One Crown Place in London.

AustralianSuper has committed £230 million ($302 million) and TH Real Estate’s recently launched Global Real Estate Debt Partners – Fund II is participating with a £50 million ($66 million) commitment.

The mixed-use scheme totals 370,500 square feet and is comprised of 136,000 square feet of office space, 7,000 square feet of retail, a 41-bed boutique hotel and 246 luxury residential units.

The loan marks AustralianSuper’s first commercial real estate (CRE) debt investment in the United Kingdom and follows the launch of a recently agreed mandate with TH Real Estate to expand their investment strategy into United Kingdom and European CRE debt. The CRE debt mandate is in addition to the direct European office and retail sector equity mandate agreed between the two parties at the beginning of 2018.

AustralianSuper’s CRE debt mandate is targeting debt financing opportunities in London and other major European cities with a focus on both mezzanine and development/refurbishment opportunities for investments in excess of £100 million ($132 million).