Global Bank Backs Manager Going Big On Emerging Social Infrastructure Assets

HSBC has provided a loan of up to £80M to a fund that is focusing on social infrastructure real estate assets in sectors including education, healthcare and electric vehicle charging.

HSBC provided a £40M debt facility to Newcore Special Situations V, which is managed by Newcore Capital. The debt is split between a £20M senior loan facility and a £20M revolving credit facility, and HSBC has the discretion to provide another £40M of debt that would increase the facility to £80M. 

NSS V raised £190M of equity in May last year, and the debt will expand its acquisition capacity. All of Newcore’s funds have leverage of 30% or less, the company said.

Recent acquisitions by NSS V include South Mimms motorway service area in Hertfordshire, which is home to the UK’s largest EV charging hub; a school in Milton Keynes, which is let to one of Newcore’s special educational needs operating partners; an NHS-backed general practice surgery in Kent; and a short-leased 5.6-acre Tesco supermarket in the Bromley-by-Bow regeneration area, east London.

Other sectors targeted by the fund include waste management and storage.

“The HSBC UK facility highlights that mainstream lenders are increasingly comfortable with social infrastructure as an asset class,” Newcore Chief Operating Officer Neil Sarkhel said in a statement. “The funding from HSBC, combined with the equity raised last year, provides us with significant firepower to deploy into creating functional assets that enable the provision of services critical to the dignified and orderly running of UK society.”