European commercial real estate lending platform Starz Real Estate (Starz) has secured additional institutional funding to originate up to €900 mln of new commercial loans over the next two years.
The newly-established Starz Zenith Capital fund is anchored by a Middle East Sovereign Wealth Fund and will complement Starz’ existing strategy to originate middle market loans between €15 mln and €75 mln with LTV ratios of up to 75%.
The Guernsey-regulated Fund offers loans for acquisition and recapitalisation of high quality, value add commercial real estate assets across the Eurozone and United Kingdom, with pricing starting at 3.75% and target returns of 10-12%.
The announcement comes off the back of a string of recent transactions for the London-based lender. This includes the recent closing of Europe’s first post-crisis CRE CLO, marking a new era for commercial funding vehicles, and the recent funding of a significant office transaction for Mm Capital and RoundShield Partners in Dublin, Ireland. Starz has also just financed the acquisition of student residence Livensa Living Porto Campus in Porto, Portugal for Temprano Capital with a €31.1 mln senior facility. Temprano Capital is Brookfield’s PBSA and Co-living platform in Iberia.
David Arzi, CEO of Starz, said: ‘While the pandemic has created a challenging commercial landscape, it has also brought with it significant new opportunities as assets change hands and need recapitalising or updating to suit new requirements. The launch of this Fund forms a significant milestone in our growth journey and we are delighted to have partnered with an outstanding institutional investor to target focused opportunities across Europe.’
UBS Private Funds Group Real Estate, part of UBS Investment Bank, acted as exclusive placement agent and financial advisor to Starz.
