The first six months of 2024 has been a period of ‘Interest Rate Hope’, where the commercial real estate market has held its breath, waiting for the ECB to commence a downward movement of interest rates. June has brought the first interest rate cut to a new interest rate cycle, but the underlying theme is that interest rates will remain higher for longer.
Borrowers whose loans are maturing in 2024 and who may have enjoyed the benefit of historical lower interest rates over several years, are faced with a double dilemma as:
- They will now be facing higher interest rates in the future and,
- The value of their underlying property will have fallen significantly.
Our advice to clients who have loan facilities maturing in 2024/25, is to get well ahead of the issue and have a very clear strategy in place to deal with higher funding costs and lower property values, long before the maturity date of their loan facilities.
LeBruin Activity
Recently our team has completed the following transactions:
- €17m loan facility for a hotel portfolio in Dublin.
- €5.2m loan facility against a residential investment portfolio.
- €4m loan facility against a residential investment portfolio.
- €2.2m loan facility against a residential investment portfolio.
- €3m equity and debt raise for a large established biofuel company.
Currently we are negotiating funding on behalf of clients across several sectors including:
- Development loan facility of €10m in relation to the construction of a new retail facility for a large supermarket chain.
- Investment loan facility of €12m in relation to the acquisition of a nursing home.
- A €20m forward fund facility to acquire a site and construct a new nursing home facility.
- A €45m equity / debt facility for a growing Irish based business in the solar energy sector.
- A €40m loan facility for a hotel portfolio in Dublin.
- A €12m equity raise for a residential development platform.
Arigna Fuels
As a result of a mandate to raise funds for Arigna Fuels to speed up its transition from fossil fuels to sustainable fuels and biocarbon, Cathal Fitzgerald, LeBruin Co-Founder & Director, became chairman of Arigna. His role is to promote Arigna’s biocarbon capabilities, as it has one of the largest operating biocarbon production facilities in the world.
Conferences he has spoken at include the North American Biochar Conference in Sacramento, California, the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference in Dublin and the Irish Bioenergy Association webinar on the National Biomethane Strategy.
Contact Us
If the team in LeBruin can be of assistance in relation to your funding requirements in the months ahead, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at tombrowne@lebruinprivate.com.