German bank pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a £33 mln (EUR 38 mln) loan to Area Property Partners, F&C REIT Asset Management and ESAS Holding to fund the acquisition of nine office properties across the UK. The transaction closed on 1 November 2011.

The assets were acquired from Capital and Regional's Mall Fund and include the Alhambra Centre in Barnsley and the Cleveland Centre in Middlesbrough. Both assets have a combined net income of £9.5 mln.

'This is the second loan we have closed this year with F&C REIT Asset Management and Area Property Partners, who are both long standing pan-European clients of the bank, and we look forward to working with them again in the future,' said Harin Thaker, head of real estate finance international at Deutsche Pfandbriefbank.

The Alhambra shopping centre totals 17,000 m2 and is Barnsley's only covered shopping complex. The Cleveland centre is Middlesbrough's largest mall, totalling 37,000 m2 and is located in the heart of the city.