BGO has managed to surpass its target for the firm's third Europe Secured Lending Fund in what it called challenging conditions.
The company, which is nowadays part of Sun Life's SLC Management, has been operating a European real estate business for more than 10 years under the watch of senior management Jim Blakemore, Manja Stueck, and Chris Taylor.
Since starting out, the company has raised eight discretionary debt funds and invested over $6.5 bn in commercial real estate loans in Europe and the UK.
This week, the firm revealed how some 40 global institutional investors had committed to the latest iteration of its Europe Secured Lending Fund series, surpassing its initial target of €1.35 bn by garnering a total of €1.38 bn in equity.
This is in addition to its UK Secured Lending platform, which raised £1.43 bn for its third fund at final close in 2023.
Said Blakemore: 'We believe that BGO’s Europe and UK Secured Lending strategies align to clear investor demand and the opportunity to take advantage of the continuing alternative credit market for commercial real estate today.'
'This fund has been raised in a challenging environment, so the fact that we exceeded our target speaks to our reputation as one of the largest and most trusted alternative lending teams in Europe.'
The strategy is a direct lending one across a range of real estate asset classes, including logistics, multi-family residential, hospitality, retail and office across the UK and Western Europe. It focusses on mid-market senior and whole loans and has the ability to provide junior debt for appropriate opportunities. Loan amounts typically range from €25 mln to mln.
Recent deals include a loan facility of over £100 mln for a life science development in Cambridge in the UK, and over €200 mln for a Build to Rent residential platform strategy in major Spanish cities.
