Private equity firm KKR has teamed up with debt specialist Urban Exposure to provide loans to the UK housebuilding sector.
The initial size of the joint venture is £165m, the opportunities for which will be sourced by Urban Exposure.
The companies said the joint venture “will take advantage of the attractive fundamentals of development finance, whilst meeting a clear need for housing development in the context of increasing mainstream housing supply in the UK”.
Varun Khanna, director at KKR Credit, said: “The strength of our platform, outstanding management team and favourable market fundamentals will enable us to support SME developers in building affordable housing for the benefit of the UK.”
Randeesh Sandhu, chief executive of Urban Exposure added:
“We are pleased to have closed this joint venture, which is a continuation of our strategy to grow our third-party asset management business whilst also continuing to deploy our balance sheet lending funds. The scale of the venture means we can offer further significant support to SME developers as they seek funding for mainstream housing projects across the UK.
“We believe the venture will demonstrate our ability to deliver shareholder value by combining our experience with KKR’s significant financial and operational expertise.”
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