North Wind Capital (NWC), a multi-family investment office which invests in credit and special situations across residential and hospitality markets, has appointed Clive Bull as director of its Luxembourg lending and securitisation vehicle to accelerate growth in NWC's private credit business.
Clive Bull has spent a 35-year career in real estate finance including 16 years in Deutsche Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Group where he was responsible for structured finance and regulatory matters for the European commercial real estate group, leaving at the end of 2021.
Prior to his tenure at Deutsche he spent seven years at JP Morgan, initially in New York for three years in the non-conduit CMBS team before moving to London to run the bank’s structured finance business in its European commercial mortgage group. His early career included stints at Smith Barney and PaineWebber.
A combination of higher rates, bank retrenchment and some private equity funds scaling back their funding lines to lending partners has created a shortage of capital for sponsors and a dislocation in the credit markets.
The private credit business at North Wind Capital seeks to address the growing liquidity shortfall for prime residential development and hospitality financings in the European market through targeted deployment of funds to back strong assets and sponsors. The targeted loan size is £10-50 mln.
North Wind Capital lends through a regulated Luxembourg securitisation vehicle which offers qualifying investors the ability to participate through a Eurobond holdings. In his new role, Bull is responsible for all new issuance through the securitisation vehicle and will provide advice on the structuring of new loans made across the NWC platform.
Ben Williams, co-founder and CEO of North Wind Capital commented: 'We aim to take advantage of the ongoing market dislocation to source, underwrite and syndicate senior and mezzanine deals through our high yield real estate credit programme. The opportunity set over the coming 12 to 18 months is compelling.'
Clive Bull commented: 'I am thrilled to be working with North Wind Capital. It is an ambitious team and an exciting time in the market. There are large pockets of illiquidity across the capital stack in our favoured sectors which creates a window of opportunity.'
