Providing advisory and valuation services to Shawbrook Bank.

Avison Young’s specialist Restructuring Solutions team has advised Shawbrook Bank, ahead of its recently announced acquisition of peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter’s development finance loan portfolio with facilities totalling £167m. RateSetter’s development finance team also joined Shawbrook Bank as part of the deal.

The work undertaken by Avison Young’s national team incorporated providing valuation and advisory services with development and part built sites spread geographically throughout the UK. The sites formed part of the acquired book of residential development and exit product loans.

The Restructuring Solutions team benefits from a wealth of experience in advising on loan books for sellers and purchasers, which is just one service in the team’s toolkit of advisory options for clients. In the past three years the team has worked on projects involving over 5,000 properties, with a collective value of over £5bn.

John Wills, Director at Avison Young, said: "We are delighted to have supported this loan book acquisition on behalf of one of the UK’s leading specialist SME lenders.

We were able to assist the swift progression of this significant deal within the necessary turnaround time, thanks to our outstanding sector expertise and the ability to mobilise our team providing full national coverage quickly."

Terry Woodley, Managing Director, Development Finance at Shawbrook Bank, said: "Customers in this market require specialist fit-for-purpose funding products, delivered consistently and by experienced people who understand the dynamics of a build and the wider property market.

At Shawbrook, this is the approach we’re committed to and it’s why we choose to work with specialists like Avison Young, who had the knowledge, network and ability to support us on the acquisition of the RateSetter portfolio."

The addition of the RateSetter business including the associated loan portfolio will add more than 100 new active clients to Shawbrook’s existing Development Finance customer base.

Shawbrook’s Development Finance business currently offers facilities from £1m to £30m to established developers seeking to fund residential and mixed-use schemes.

Article updated on 5th February 2021 from original posting on 21st December 2020.