Pramerica sets up London team to invest in European real estate debt

Pramerica Real Estate Investors, the US investment manager with $47 bn (EUR 35.8 bn) of assets worldwide, is expanding its real estate finance activities with the launch of a new team based in London which will invest in commercial real estate mezzanine structures across Europe. Prudential Financial's management arm said it has hired Andrew Radkiewicz and Andrew Macland, founders of Paramount Private Equity LLP, to lead a four-strong team that will offer investors the opportunity to take advantage of a rapidly changing real estate market.

Radkiewicz and Macland, who formerly headed the real estate finance business at N M Rothschild & Sons in London, recently set up the Paramount fund platform to focus on originating, structuring and managing debt and mezzanine investments in Europe. They are joining Pramerica together with their colleagues Mathew Crowther and Brian Scally.

'Changes in the real estate and banking markets have created opportunities for our investors,' said Robert Falzon, managing director and head of European business for Pramerica. 'This team has the skill to identify opportunities, the capacity to accurately assess risk and the judgment to make the right choices for our clients. With the experience of more than £3 bn in transactions, this team perfectly complements our successful US mezzanine strategy.'

Pramerica believes that in the long term, regulatory changes will shrink the banking sector's holdings in the real estate financing market, creating long-term opportunities for a sustainable business strategy. The group has invested $3.2 bn in mezzanine structures over the last five years.