Peter Denton to leave Starwood

Peter Denton, Starwood Capital’s head of European special situations, is to leave the firm at the end of this year.

In an announcement this morning, the company’s listed European property debt vehicle, Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited (SEREFL), said that Denton would be leaving at the end of December to join a property-related not-for-profit organisation in the New Year as chief financial officer.

Former BNP Paribas and WestImmo banker Denton joined Starwood in April 2012 ahead of the Dcember 2012 IPO of SEREFL, which emerged as one of the initial wave of alternative sources of commercial real estate debt in Europe.

Denton was a member of the investment committee that is responsible for recommending loan investments to SEREFL’s investment manager. Duncan MacPherson, a fellow member of the investment committee, will assume all of Denton’s investment adviser responsibilities whilst retaining existing and primary responsibility for loan origination.

The investment committee of investment adviser Starwood Capital Europe Advisers also comprises Starwood CEO and chairman Barry Sternlicht, as well as senior executives Dennis Schuh, Jeffery DiModica, Jeffrey Dishner and Andrew Sossen.

Prior to joining Starwood, Denton was head of real estate finance in London for BNP Paribas for around a year. Prior to that, he was head of London at WestImmo between 2008 and 2011. Previous roles included managing director for real estate finance Europe, Middle East and South Africa at Barclays Capital from 2007 to 2008 and head of European DCM origination at Eurohypo from 1998 to 2007.

Denton served as chairman of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) Europe from November 2013 to November 2014.

“We wish Peter well in his new role. Alternative real estate lending is now an established and permanent part of the market with strong short to long term prospects. The board believes that with the highly rated and successful team at Starwood Capital, the prospects for the company are extremely bright,” commented SEREFL chairman Steve Smith.