Australian non-bank real estate lender, Qualitas, has acquired the investment management business of UK-based Starz Real Estate for A$36.5m (€42m) to launch a real estate private credit platform in Europe.
Founded in 2018, Starz is a commercial real estate private credit manager overseeing a £376m (€435.4m) credit portfolio across Europe.
Under the acquisition, the newly established European division of Qualitas will assume management of the existing portfolio, comprising 11 investments.
Qualitas said it will combine Starz’s 10-strong team with two of its senior executives relocating from Melbourne to London.
Andrew Schwartz, group managing director and co-founder, Qualitas said: “The UK and European commercial real estate lending market is more than five times the size of Australia, providing a significant opportunity to expand our private credit platform in a large and highly developed market.
“We are excited by the scale of the opportunity and believe the combination of an experienced local team, synergistic institutional relationships and Qualitas’ proven investment approach positions us well to capitalise on growing demand for private credit as traditional financiers’ participation continues to decline.”
Schwarz told IPE Real Assets that as part of the acquisition, the firm intended to initially focus on integrating the business and managing the existing fund, while preparing for the launch of a new fund to raise capital to deploy in Europe.
The lender currently runs a suite of funds in Australia, and counts Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as one of its key investors, having committed A$1.75bn to these vehicles.
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