Europe’s Top Lenders 2020: Are you among them?

Since 2014, our annual list of Europe’s top real estate lenders has served as a bellwether of the continent’s leading property debt providers. If you need a recap, Europe’s Top 40 Lenders 2019 can be found here.

Each year, compiling the list is a difficult, but fascinating task. It is not a ranking – there is no single metric by which to measure lenders of different stripes. Rather, our editorial team gathers as much information as possible on the activities of the market’s lenders and thinks long and hard about which deserve to make the cut.

Numbers, such as lending volumes, are important. But we also ask ourselves: which organisations were behind the latest landmark deals? Which provided finance where it was most needed? Which were most innovative? Which made headway in environmental, social and governance?

The disruption caused by covid-19 during 2020 means we have a new set of considerations. We will be looking for evidence of how lenders have reacted to the crisis. Which lenders have contributed to the continued functioning of Europe’s real estate financing market since the pandemic began? Which have successfully resolved problems with borrowers?

To help us make our decisions, we want to hear from you by midday, UK time, Friday 9 October.

Our next Top Lenders list will be published in the winter edition of Real Estate Capital and on 1 December on www.recapitalnews.com. The 2019 edition was published in September 2019, meaning we are interested in what you have done since 1 September 2019. But your activity since March 2020, when covid-19 lockdowns came into force in Europe, will be of most interest to us.

Here is what we want to know:

1. What type of lending your organisation does – such as senior or mezzanine – and where in Europe is it.

2. Your organisation’s 2019 total European real estate lending volume, in euros – with the H2 total specified. We would also like detail on what type of debt it includes – we know €100 million of senior debt does not compare with €10 million of mezzanine.

3. Your organisation’s 2020 European real estate lending volume to the end of Q3. For us to understand its activity since the covid-19 pandemic, please also specify how much of this was closed in the Q2-Q3 period.

4. Its European real estate loan book size at the end of Q3 2020.

5. The deals your organisation is most proud of, and why. Please be clear about when the deals closed, provide as much detail as possible, and why you believe the deal stood out.

6. Tell us how your organisation responded to covid-19: did it close deals that were underway before March? Did it take the opportunity to win new deals? Did it resolve difficult situations with borrowers? We want to know why its response to covid-19 shows it is one of Europe’s top lenders.

7. What has it done in the field of ESG since we last published our list? We are eager to hear what makes your organisation’s ‘green’ deals green, and how the S and G of ESG fitted into your thinking.

To make our decisions, we need as much solid information as possible! Please send your pitches to the editor at the below email address by midday, UK time, on 9 October, with TOP LENDERS 2020 and your organisation name in the subject line.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Email the author: daniel.c@peimedia.com