Real estate finance advisory firm Arc & Co. has arranged a bridging loan of £9.5 million on behalf of a private international client for the acquisition of a luxury apartment in London.

The bridging facility was secured from West One for the acquisition of an apartment within the OWO Residences on Whitehall, managed by Raffles hotel group.

The loan is for a term of 12 months at an interest rate of 1.15% per month.

Nikita Nigai (pictured), private client advisor at Arc & Co., said: “Approaching the completion date for the acquisition, the client was unable to find and arrange long-term finance and assumed they would be able to receive a completion extension from the developer.

“Nowadays, current market conditions mean that developers usually don’t wait or grant extensions, so we concluded that there wasn’t enough time to secure a term loan. The plan was agreed as a bridge which would then be refinanced onto term debt, for which we already have several interested banks.

“It’s quite important to present a deal with a complex UBO in the right way from day one. Having knowledge of this particular market, I was able to explain all the risks and opportunities and therefore manage clients’ expectations correctly.

“West One were quick, even on this complex deal involving a foreign national, and fantastic to deal with.”

Michael Grant, head of sales – bridging and development finance at West One, added: “Working with Nikita is always a pleasure. On larger deals such as this one, communication is particularly important in order to execute, and attention to detail is vital.

“I praise Nikita’s tenacity and expertise in helping us get the deal over the line; aided by Greg Totton, our senior underwriter, this made all the difference.”