Generali and Grosvenor launch UK residential lending partnership
Generali Real Estate, the investment arm of Italian insurer Generali, has teamed up with UK property company Grosvenor to provide finance to UK residential developers.
The companies have each put an initial £50m into the joint venture, which is called the Residential Private Debt Finance Co-investment Strategy, and have already provided a £17m loan to Aitch Group for an apartment scheme near Canary Wharf (pictured).
Under the partnership, the firms plan to provide loans of up to £60m for residential projects, with a focus on those with strong environmental credentials in London and other cities.
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“This new partnership enables us to ramp up our lending activity, combining our capital and knowledge of the UK housing market to back the deliver of new homes – bet that for sale, for rent, later living or student accommodation,” said Rachel Dickie, executive director of investment at Grosvenor.
Stefano Lombardo, head of commercial real estate debt portfolio construction at Generali, said that the partnership will help it to grow its debt investment strategy in the UK, which is one of its “focus countries”.
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The partnership is an extension of both Grosvenor and Generali Real Estate strategies on real estate debt.
Grosvenor’s £120m residential development debt strategy was launched in April 2023. The firm said that allocating additional capital to the residential sector continues the diversification of its £900m regional investment portfolio, which also comprises retail and entertainment destination Liverpool ONE and around 500,000 square feet of regional office space.
