ICG Real Estate, the real estate business of Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), has appointed Axel Durand-Smet as an associate director in Paris, as part of the partnership capital team.
Durand-Smet will be working on the structuring and origination of deals in the European markets. His appointment marks the further strengthening of the partnership capital strategy, following the appointment of Etienne Casara in April 2021.
Durand-Smet joins ICG from Kildare Partners where he was a vice president in the investment team and he has a wealth of experience in the European and Nordics markets. He worked previously for Sedco Capital, Colony Northstar and Heitman in their respective London offices.
Philippe Deloffre, managing director at ICG Real Estate, said: 'We are delighted to welcome Axel to the team, adding a considerable amount of pan-European experience. His appointment follows the recent closing of a whole loan investment by the Partnership Capital strategy – a €62 mln facility to finance Naos Hotel Group in their acquisition of the Sheraton, Nice Cote D’Azur, France.
'Despite some uncertainty across the market in 2022 our pipeline is very positive, and we are closing two further transactions in France and Germany.'
Said Durand-Smet: 'The ICG Partnership Capital strategy has an impressive track record partnering with leading entrepreneurs and investment managers, and I am thrilled to be joining the team in Paris to participate in the rapid expansion of the firm’s real estate capabilities across Continental Europe.'
The ICG Real Estate partnership capital strategy focuses on debt financing of real estate value-add strategies across sectors secured against UK, Northern and Western European commercial real estate.
In 2021, it introduced a sustainable objective through its green loan framework to encourage de-carbonisation through financial incentives to invest in emission reduction and energy efficiency measures.
