MAGAZINE: New refinancing culture emerges

The European real estate landscape has experienced a number of major tremors this past year as a growing number of US heavyweights set foot on this side of the Atlantic.

Many have set their eyes on the refinancing mountain which will loom large in the next 24 months. Indeed, a new refinancing culture is in the making, according to Christian Ulbrich, CEO of London-based brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

Speaking during a panel discussion held at the inaugural DIC Asset Investor Day in Frankfurt at end-October, Ulbrich took the debate about whether a new investment culture was evolving in the wake of the financial crisis one step further than his fellow panellist Michael Morgenroth.

The outgoing board member of Gothaer Asset Management said new regulations such as Solvency II would lead to a major rethink by insurers as to where they allocate capital.

But Ulbrich sees even greater repercussions as traditional lending sources dry up under pressure from regulatory forces in the banking sector. Replacing banks, he sees new players taking part in classical mortgage lending as well as new forms of finance
such as bearer bonds and mezzanine.

As the refinancing burden claims greater attention and becomes more complex, the market will see a lot of creativity, he predicted. Ulbrich’s words were not wasted on his fellow-panellist from Gothaer.

Barely a month later, Austria’s Signa Group announced Morgenroth and a significant part of his team from Gothaer would join the company in March 2012 to lead a drive into debt investments.

The full article appears in the December edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe