Luxury Cornish Resort Steps Up Development Plans
The Bristol commercial team of the Allied Irish Bank (GB) has granted a multi-million pound facility to Kingfisher Resorts St Ives Ltd to fund the development of the luxury Una St Ives holiday resort on Cornwall’s north coast.
The Carbis Bay resort, which currently comprises approximately 30 high-end and eco-friendly holiday homes as well as a leisure complex including restaurants, bars, a gym, pool and spa, will see a phase II and III expansion by Truro-based Kingfisher over the next 2-3 years.
AIB specialises in the provision of a range of loans and financial services to owner-managed businesses. The loan will facilitate the acquisition from real estate fund manager, Frogmore, of two sister companies - Frep 2 (Carbis Bay) Limited and Una St Ives Homes Ltd - which together own the site.
By acquiring the site, a key milestone has been reached in Kingfisher’s plans for the resort.
AIB received legal and commercial advice on the transaction from leading commercial law firm, Thrings.
Led by Bristol-based corporate partner, Mike Tomlin, Thrings prepared and implemented the investment security package for AIB. Additional legal advice was provided by the firm’s specialist corporate affairs, banking, property, construction and planning teams.
Brian Tooker, senior relationship manager at Allied Irish Bank (GB)’s Bristol office said: “We were approached to fund the deal at the Bristol business office. My colleague Kevin Goodall and I were able to meet the clients at the site shortly afterwards and we quickly delivered confirmation of the Bank’s appetite to fund the proposal.
“It became very clear to us that they would run an established business and it is great that we have been given the opportunity to play a small part in their success. We worked very closely with the client and local professionals, taking the time to understand their requirements, in order to deliver this deal. At AIB (GB) strong relationships are at the heart of our business and we look forward to working with the team in St Ives and continuing to support their ambitions for the business.”
Mike Tomlin added: “Thrings is very pleased to have once again worked closely with AIB on this collaborative deal, delivering within a particularly short timeframe, under complex circumstances and involving a large number of legal and advisory entities.
“We were able to advise the bank on the intricate real estate, construction and planning issues which lie at the heart of facility and security packages of this type. The loan is an example of the increasing confidence we are seeing in the lending market, which we are glad to support.”
Central to the resort’s plans was the purchase of the land and property making up the existing facilities.
Partner at Sanderson Weatherall, Mark Sheridan, provided valuation advice to AIB on the existing holiday homes, leisure complex and land forming the future phases of the resort’s development. Exit strategies were also advised on to ensure a secure grounding for Kingfisher’s acquisition.
Mark said: “We were delighted to assist AIB and Kingfisher in this transaction in what is a specialist sector, one of a number of similar deals we have been involved in during the past 12 months. Working alongside Thrings we were able to quickly resolve a number of last minute legal and property issues, which were vital to the progression of the deal.”
