London & Henley
Transaction Background
In July 1995 Graphite Capital co-led a £44 million fundraising for
London & Henley, a company which acquired, refurbished, sold and let residential property in central London. We co-led a further fundraising in December 1997, which increased the total transaction size to £70 million.
Deal Attractions
The management team had a long and successful track record of developing residential properties and was still managing a portfolio of these properties when London & Henley was formed. Within the central London market there were many properties available for redevelopment and the yields on developed properties were very attractive.
Achievements
- we helped the management team develop financial systems to optimise portfolio and development returns
- during our ownership £18.9 million worth of properties were developed and sold
- additional properties worth a further £44.2 million were developed and retained by London & Henley
- we provided further development capital as the business expanded
Exit
- in the middle of 1998 Graphite sold the business, along with the properties it owned and managed, to Security Global Realty in the US
- the investment provided Graphite with an internal rate of return of 41.7 per cent and a multiple of 2.2 times the initial cost of investment