Bank of Communications contributes to a £390 million GBP syndicated loan for The Stage

Project narrative

On April 17, 2018, a syndicate of five banks — including the London Branch of the Bank of Communications (BoComm) — entered into £390 million GBP loan agreement with Shoreditch Stage Ltd — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and a joint venture of Cain International, U.S. investor McCourt Global, Galliard Homes Ltd, Chinese developer Vanke, Investec and The Estate Office Shoreditch — for The Stage, a £750 million GBP mixed-use luxury residential development in Shoreditch, London. In addition to BoComm, the following banks participated in this syndicated loan: Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Investec, Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd., and Bank of East Asia. Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Investec, Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd. each contributed £97.5 million GBP contribution. The London Branch of BoCom and Bank of East Asia together provided the remaining £97.5 million GBP to the loan syndicate. Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking was the lead arranger. The loan replaced (refinanced) original financing provided by Investec when The Stage project site was acquired and was intended to finance ongoing construction activity until the project's expected 2021 completion. The Stage is a mixed-used development located over 2.3 acres in Shoreditch, London, designed to comprise 540,000 square feet of residential and office space, including retail, restaurant, leisure, and culture spaces. It included a 412 unit 40-story residential tower, two office buildings ('The Bard' and 'The Hewett') totaling 200,000 square feet pre-leased to WeWork with additional retail and restaurant space, a 4,700 square foot pavilion with restaurant and leisure space, a Victorian viaduct providing 8,500 square feet of retail space, and a Shakespearian theater and visitor attraction centered at William Shakespeare's Curtain Play House theatre (which was excavated during the foundation work for the project), all set in substantial public realm of 1.2 acres. O’Shea was awarded a £300 million GBP ($390 million USD) for project construction. Cilantro Engineering was responsible for design and build mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) installations. O’Reilly Concrete was responsible for the supply of self-compacting concrete for the project. Kloeckner Westok was awarded a contracted to work with SDM Fabrications to fabricate and erect the steel frame for The Bard building. Keltbray was responsible for demolition, excavation and piling work. DML was responsible for overseeing design, construction, and commercial aspects. Perkins+Will was the designer of The Stage. Argent Design was responsible for the interiors of the reception area of the residential tower. Saentys was responsible for project marketing. Walsh Associates served as project structural engineer. Main construction work was expected to start in April 2016 with completion scheduled for the first quarter of 2019. The project entered implementation. Construction was paused in March 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The development opened on November 6, 2023.