Santander financing deal for the studios, MediaCityUK

Santander Corporate Banking has announced its agreement of a £22 million financing deal with Peel Media, developers of MediaCityUK.

MediaCityUK, which occupies a 37-acre site on Salford Quays, is the new home to BBC North, the University of Salford, ITV and Coronation Street.  It is one of the biggest private sector building projects currently underway in Europe, with Phase One worth £650 million.

Santander Corporate Banking is providing Peel Media with asset financing for the recording and studio equipment in six studios plus the BBC Philharmonic Studio.  The studios are operated through a partnership between Peel Media and SIS and include seven HD TV studios and two audio studios. The BBC has a long term commitment to use the studios for shows including Match of the Day, CBeebies and Blue Peter amongst other BBC flagship programmes.  The studios are also available to hire by other production companies, including ITV, which confirmed in December last year that its Manchester-based arm will relocate to MediaCityUK in 2012.

Peel Media is part of the Peel Group - one of the leading property and transport companies in the UK with assets valued at around £6 billion and boasting The Trafford Centre amongst its key holdings.

Steven Underwood, Corporate Development Director for Peel, said: "We're delighted to have secured this funding from Santander.  They were very flexible and demonstrated a deep understanding both of our business and of the challenges particular to this venture, which is reflected in the deal they've put together for us.

"MediaCityUK is a very exciting development which will transform the Salford Quays area into one of the world's leading hubs for content creation.  As phase one of the development nears completion, we are just starting to make our first programmes and the area is really beginning to come to life."

Mike Boyes, Relationship Director, Large Corporate Asset Finance, Santander Corporate Banking, said: "MediaCityUK boasts some of the most cutting edge studio technology which has convinced both the BBC and ITV to shift the filming and production of some of their flagship programmes there.  We're very pleased to have been able to provide the funding for these studios and to invest in what we believe will be an exciting and successful future of film-making.

"We look forward to building our relationship with Peel Media further as MediaCitUK continues to expand and we hope to play more of a part in its development."