Bank of Scotland finances £38m New Zealand project

BANK of Scotland has further extended its international property lending reach with a loan to get work started on New Zealand's largest ever residential property development.

BOS International, a subsidiary of the Edinburgh-based bank, has negotiated a NZ$107 million (38m) loan to Infinity Investment Group, to get work underway on Pegasus Bay.

A 340 hectare greenfield development, the Pegasus Bay site lies 15 miles north of Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island. First titles are expected to be granted late in 2007, and the development could eventually be home to 5,000 people.

BOS International established an office in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, in 2005.

Hugh Sykes, associate director of BOS International in Auckland, reportedly said his group now had more than $2.7 billion loaned to New Zealand businesses.

These including other property deals and corporate sales worth up to 126m.

The Pegasus Bay project, New Zealand's largest ever development of its kind, is expected to cost more than $1bn.

BOS International's Sykes said he hoped to lend more money to the project in the future.

The deal comes just a week after Bank of Scotland International announced it was backing a 130m deal with Mirvac in the largest hotel deal in Australia of 2006, including finance and equity funding.