Greenridge Investment Management concludes Real Estate Transactions structured on Islamic financing

The deals include the £77m acquisition of US multinational conglomerate 3M’s European headquarters in Bracknell and the £48.3m acquisition of the NHS National Services Division HQ in Edinburgh.

Real estate investor Greenridge Investment Management concluded both transactions which involved structured Islamic financing arranged by Manchester-based Broadoak Real Estate Finance as well as shariah-compliant investment from a leading investment institution in Kuwait.

Law firm Foot Anstey from its Bristol office advised real estate investor Greenridge Investment Management on the two significant and complex transactions.

Foot Anstey’s Islamic Finance Capabilities

Foot Anstey’s Islamic finance team has recently advised on a string of similar financing and investment deals for shariah-compliant banks and investors across multiple jurisdictions.

The transactions follow the team’s success at the Islamic Finance News’ Lawyer Awards where it was runner-up in the global real estate category. It also climbed up the rankings in the Legal 500 – the law sector’s respected annual publication.

Foot Anstey head of Islamic finance Imam Qazi, said: “We were delighted to assist with the smooth completion of these deals for Greenridge, who are a very active investor in the real estate market and have a keen eye for outstanding investment opportunities.

String of Recent UK Real Estate Deals

Fara Mohammad, director of Islamic Finance, Foot Anstey, stated in an interview in November that sharia-compliant investments have been used to fund some of London’s largest developments, including The Shard, the Olympic Village, Harrods, and London’s Battersea Power Station redevelopment project that has secured a sharia-compliant syndicated loan of £467 million.

The Islamic finance team at Foot Anstey have recently advised a UK investment advisory firm on the conventional and Islamic finance aspects of their £70-million acquisition of the National Air Traffic Services HQ in Fareham, on behalf of Kuwaiti investors. The acquisition was financed via a £42-million conventional syndicated loan as well as a separate, sharia-compliant £28-million commodity murabaha facility, which is a form of sharia-compliant form of credit sale. The deal involved the Islamic finance team coordinating a commodity trade on the London Metal Exchange, and offshore teams in various jurisdictions including Gibraltar, Jersey and Kuwait. The team also recently advised Dimah Capital in Kuwait on its sale of the Argos National Distribution Centre in Stafford for £33 million.