UK fund manager Grosvenor has secured a £385 mln (EUR 461 mln) refinancing for its 1.6 million sq ft (150,000 m2) Liverpool One mixed-use scheme. The refinancing agreement was signed with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Eurohypo, Dekabank and Credit Agricole banks.

The new five-year deal replaces the original funding put in place six years ago to cover both the development phase and the initial period of trading.

The facility is the culmination of a competitive tendering process which has seen the arrival of Dekabank and Credit Agricole. It has been put in place ahead of the existing loan maturing in January 2012. 'We have been in discussion with the banks since early last year to secure this refinancing, never an easy task for this size of loan, even in a strong market,' said Chris Taite, Group Investment Director at Grosvenor.

'In the most difficult market many of us have experienced, delivery of this deal reflects the quality of the Liverpool One asset, Grosvenor's sponsorship and the commitment of their relationship banks,' added Derek Bonnar, senior director at RBS.

Liverpool One, the fifth largest retail destination in the UK, opened two years ago, and is currently 98% let, 51% of tenants are new to Liverpool and 20 new retailers have opened in the past 12 months, including Hugo Boss, Desigual, Habitat, Hollister, Jamie's Italian and Kuoni.

The property is owned by the Grosvenor Liverpool Fund which has seven investors (including Grosvenor) and is managed by Sarah-Jane Curtis.

Grosvenor Fund Management (GFM) offers a range of sector and regional specialist property investment funds from offices in China, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, the UK and the US.