KKR has joined forces with Puma Property Finance in a new joint venture (JV) to provide up to £500m in loans for UK living sector projects.
The funding will support developers with senior development and stabilisation loans for residential, build-to-rent and student accommodation schemes in areas where housing is in short supply.
The partnership brings together Puma’s experience in UK real estate lending with KKR’s capital and structuring capabilities.
The platform has backing from a major international bank and will target loans between £20m and £75m.
The agreement will run for three years, aimed at supporting experienced developers working on high-quality projects in constrained markets.
Puma was advised by Ashcombe Advisers and Greenburg Traurig.
Anirban Ghosh (pictured), managing director at KKR, said: “We are pleased to work with Puma Property Finance to scale access to institutional capital in the UK residential development market.
“We believe this platform is well positioned to support experienced developers delivering much-needed housing across the country, combining Puma’s local expertise and origination capabilities with KKR’s global credit platform and disciplined underwriting approach.”
Puma’s development lending team will source, underwrite and manage the loans for the joint venture, working with KKR’s global credit platform.
Paul Frost, managing director of Puma Property Finance, said: “We are delighted to be working with KKR.
2KKR’s global standing is second to none, and their backing is a clear endorsement of the strength of the business we have built at Puma, as well as the robust demand for UK real estate credit among global allocators of capital.
“This new joint venture provides our origination teams with access to attractively priced, scalable capital to support best-in-class developers across the UK living sectors.”
Frost added: “It complements our existing capital lines well and means we can support more high‑quality developments with the service levels, flexibility and human touch that people have come to expect from Puma.”