Flexible offices group Fora is planning to securitise a part of its portfolio of space, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The filing comprises a letter from KPMG to a newly created special purpose vehicle called Hera Financing 2024-1 DAC. The consultancy firm analysed a sample of 157 flexible UK leases from a portfolio of 489 office units with flexible leases. In addition, it drew the top-10 full repair and insure leases by headline rent and the top-20 forward leases from the portfolio for the CMBS.
The Fora platform was created via merger between Brockton Capital’s Fora and Blackstone's The Office Group in 2022. At the end of that year, Fora’s portfolio comprised nine freeholds or long leaseholds with a total of 264,124 square feet and six leaseholds with a total of 262,079 square feet.
The company operates from 61 locations across London’s Zones One and Two travel districts. Blackstone agreed to buy a majority interest in The Office Group in 2017, valuing the flexible workspace provider then at around £500 million. After the merger, Fora focused on increasing its own portfolio. It opened three owned assets: Chancery House, Montacute Yards and Black & White.
It is also adding or redeveloping 255,000 square feet of space. In addition, the company is managing buildings for other owners, including the Blue Fin Building (Oxford Properties & Temasek), 60 London Wall (CalSTRS and LaSalle), and The Jellicoe (King’s Cross Partnership).
If the deal goes ahead, it would be the third European commercial mortgage-backed securitisation this year. Before the summer, Barclays launched a £537.8 million CMBS backed by last-mile logistics owned by Blackstone and data centre developer and operator Vantage launched Europe’s first data centre CMBS, securitising a £600 million loan.
BNP Paribas is arranger and joint lead manager and Merrill Lynch International the joint lead manager.