Asset manager M&G Investments has completed the fundraising for its two new junior commercial mortgage funds, reaching £1.35 bn (€1.6 bn) of capital commitments from over 40 institutional investors from Europe and the US.
Asset manager M&G Investments has completed the fundraising for its two new junior commercial mortgage funds, reaching £1.35 bn (€1.6 bn) of capital commitments from over 40 institutional investors from Europe and the US.
The two funds are M&G Real Estate Debt Fund II, which closed on £605 mln with capital aimed at European mezzanine real estate debt, and M&G Real Estate Debt Fund III, which reached a final closing of £750 mln and targets the ‘stretch senior’ portion of the mortgage capital structure.
Both funds were significantly oversubscribed, M&G said in a statement.
'The response from pension funds and insurance companies to this new asset class is now extremely positive, and combined with the discretionary capital available to us for the senior mortgage strategy, gives us tremendous firepower to lend across the whole capital structure,' commented John Barakat, head of real estate finance, M&G Investments. 'Having the flexibility to lend on a senior-only, junior-only, or combined whole loan basis gives borrowers certainty that we can meet their entire financing need whatever their targeted leverage.'
M&G also announced that Lynn Gilbert has joined the real estate finance team to lead origination activity. Gilbert has over 30 years of real estate experience, and previously led commercial mortgage activity at Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley. She most recently worked on the real estate debt funds at Renshaw Bay.
The real estate finance team at M&G now numbers 20 professionals.
M&G was one of the first major institutions to identify the investment opportunity in real estate finance. The first closing on its initial real estate debt fund occurred in 2009. That fund is fully invested.
