OREANDA-NEWS. Prudential Mortgage Capital Company has arranged a USD 165.8 million loan to refinance The Waldorf Hilton, a historic luxury hotel located in the heart of London’s theater district. The deal represents the firm’s seventh commercial real estate loan since launching its European business in 2012 and its fifth in the UK. Prudential Mortgage Capital Company is the commercial mortgage lending business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU).

The Waldorf Hilton is wholly owned by the Bhatia family, established London hoteliers with several prominent hotel holdings across London. The family is led by Gulshan Bhatia who has more than 40 years experience operating and owning London hotels. The Waldorf Hilton was originally purchased for the family’s portfolio in 2007 and Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s 15-year, fixed-rate loan will be used to refinance existing debt.

This financing brings Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s secured commercial real estate loan portfolio in Europe to nearly USD 1 billion since its first European loan in June 2012. It is also the first loan under the new Friends Life investment mandate announced in July, 2013.

Under the USD 577.7 million discretionary mandate, Friends Life will participate in large loans originated by Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, boosting the firm’s single loan limit in the UK to more than USD 280 million. The Friends Life co-investment program targets senior secured, fixed-rate loans with maturities of between 5 and 15 years, with appetite for assets in London as well as regional England and Wales.

David Gingell, director of European originations for Prudential Mortgage Capital Company said, “The Waldorf Hilton continues to outperform the market in a number of key metrics and its trading performance proved resilient through the recent economic cycle. The location of the property in the heart of London’s theatre district and its proximity to Covent Garden will act as long term demand drivers for the hotel. These characteristics coupled with the opportunity to provide long term financing to a family who has built their reputation in hotels made this an extremely attractive transaction.”

“The Waldorf Hilton loan is both testament to Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s long-term commitment to European markets and also our ability to deploy capital on behalf of third party mortgage investors,” said Drew Abernethy, head of European originations for Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. “We are proud to have been involved in this transaction.”

Looking forward to 2014, Prudential Mortgage Capital Company will continue its focus on senior, fixed-rate commercial real estate debt in Europe. Its European program offers similar loan structures to those offered by the company in the US, and as in the US, the company has the ability to fund individual transactions of significant size.