ICG-Longbow IPO

Carey Olsen and Heritage International Fund Managers Limited (“HIFM”) have acted for ICG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments Limited (the “Company”) on the first London listed fund Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 2013.

The company was admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities on Tuesday 5th February 2013. The Fund's IPO raised over £104m by way of a placing by Investec Bank plc, who acted as sponsor to the company, to institutional investors.

The company has been established as a registered closed-ended collective investment scheme regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and has appointed ICG-Longbow Real Estate Capital LLP (“ICG-Longbow”) as the Investment Manager. The investment strategy and loan origination of the company is being led by Graham Emmett, Partner.

This is the first listed fund for ICG-Longbow, which is focused on raising, investing and managing funds in UK commercial real estate debt. The IPO of this new fund is a positive sign for the market as debt is becoming increasingly available from alternative lenders in an environment where banks remain limited in their appetite for lending.

Jack Perry, Chairman of ICG-Longbow SSUP, commented:

“Raising over £100m in what is currently a very difficult fund raising environment is a great achievement. The success is a testament to the experienced ICG-Longbow team and the design of the product. A 6% pa dividend yield from a diversified senior loan portfolio is attractive and there has been significant demand from investors looking to diversify their portfolios into new investment opportunities. We are currently seeing a significant shortfall in the supply of senior debt to the UK commercial property sector. We are delighted to offer investors an opportunity to participate directly in newly originated senior loans, underpinned by attractive credit fundamentals. These features should combine to result in predictable investor returns.”

HIFM have been appointed as administrators to the fund with James Christie, Associate Director, leading the launch and the on-going administration team. James is supported by a specialist team of qualified accountants, company secretaries and administrators whose combined skills and expertise position themselves as a leading provider of fund administration services for these fund structures.

Mark Huntley, Managing Director of HIFM and a non-executive director on the board of the Company comments: “We are pleased to support ICG Longbow in establishing their first Guernsey fund and work with such a high quality group of professionals on this project. The investment manager and Investec have a thorough knowledge of this market and asset class and the opportunities for fund vehicles like this are increasingly present. The increasing appetite for investment yield from investors lends itself ideally to real estate debt as an asset class. We are delighted for all involved and look forward to working with the ICG Longbow team going forward to implement the investment programme.”

Carey Olsen advised on the Guernsey law aspects of the establishment and regulation of the company. The team from Carey Olsen was led by corporate partner Tom Carey (pictured) who was assisted by senior associate Oliver Quarmby and associate Imogen Payne.

Advocate Carey said: “We are very proud to have assisted ICG Longbow with this successful IPO which is another endorsement for Guernsey as the listed fund domicile of choice for this asset class. We are also very pleased to work alongside our friends at Heritage and Investec.”