EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Cornerstone's European finance boss

Chris Bates, who was appointed in July as head of European Real Estate Finance at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, talks to PropertyEU about the company's expansion plans in the European debt finance market.

Reporting to Charles Weeks, Cornerstone Europe’s CEO, Bates is responsible for the origination and execution of real estate debt investment opportunities.

His appointment last month was part of Cornerstone's strategy to expand its $27 bn US real estate debt platform internationally.

Bates is responsible for building up a team as the European debt investment platform grows, both in terms of assets under management and geographic reach outside of the UK. He has over 19 years experience in the UK real estate market, including 10 years in senior roles at The Royal Bank of Scotland where he was real estate managing director in Secured Debt Markets, focussed on the UK but also having responsibility for core European markets including France and Germany.

Prior to RBS, Bates held principal positions at GE Capital Real Estate and Chelsfield, having qualified as a Chartered Surveyor at King Sturge. He has most recently worked at Harville where he was a founding partner.

Cornerstone first entered the European real estate lending market in August 2012 with the completion of an £83 mln refinancing for Derwent London. The deal was one of $3.5 bn of real estate debt transactions undertaken by Cornerstone in 2012.

PropertyEU: Could you comment on Cornerstone's rationale for creating this position and what the company would like to achieve?

Bates: Cornerstone already has a significant real estate finance platform in the US with $23 bn of debt investments under management. The move into the European debt markets was a logical step in response to both market opportunity and investor appetite. There are opportunities across the European real estate finance markets as banks react to legislation and work out their legacy positions. Borrowers also remain keen to expand their finance relationships. The fallout from the financial crisis continues and there is an opportunity for several new credible lenders in the market. Cornerstone is striving to be one of them.

PropertyEU: What will be your main priorities in your new role?

Bates: I intend to build on the strong foundations that the team has laid over the last 12 months and initially will be working with the team on a number of live transactions which we are keen to close. The focus will continue to be on the UK senior market but the intention is to expand the lending platform across the established European markets offering a variety of debt products to meet our investor demand.

PropertyEU: How will you go about realising these goals?
Bates: The business will obviously only grow by being in the deal flow. We need to ensure that real estate investors are aware of our capability and that we provide a commercial and efficient face to the borrower community.

PropertyEU: What will be your focus in terms of asset type, lending strategy etc.?
Bates: The focus will be UK senior debt in the established sectors of the real estate market. We will consider transactions across the UK with the quality of the underlying real estate, business plan and sponsor being key to our lending decisions. Targeted lending term are between seven and 20 years.

Geographically, the UK provides significant opportunity and, in my view, will continue to do so for many years. Germany, France and the Nordics also provide attractive risk-adjusted opportunities and it is our intention to develop the Cornerstone lending platform across these markets in the short to medium term.