BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Aareal Bank
Second place: Citi
Third place: Bank of America

Germany’s Aareal closed several large loans, including multi-jurisdictional deals. In March, it provided a €586 million syndicated facility to logistics manager GLP for a portfolio located across the UK, Netherlands and Germany. In April, it provided a €360 million refinancing of manager Pradera’s European retail parks vehicle. In the hotel market – a sector in which it has a significant track record – Aareal provided a £240 million (€270 million) UK portfolio refinancing to manager Tristan Capital Partners in November.

 

BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR: UK
Winner: Deutsche Bank
Second place: HSBC
Third place: Bank of America

Germany’s Deutsche Bank made its mark in the UK during 2022. In February, it upsized to £1.05 billion (€1.27 billion) its 2019 credit facility to Sage Housing – the first of its kind for a for-profit social housing provider – to support its development pipeline. In April, it provided manager MGT Investment Management with £100 million for apartments at London’s Battersea Power Station. In May, it provided £110 million to logistics manager Griffen UK. Other UK deals included a £180 million London office financing.

 

BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR: GERMANY
Winner: Helaba
Second place: pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
Third place: Berlin Hyp

In May, Frankfurt-headquartered Helaba refinanced the Quartier 205 mixed-use scheme in Berlin for manager Tishman Speyer with a €250 million, 10-year loan. The transaction included a social impact feature whereby both lender and borrower provide matching annual contributions to a local charity. In July, the bank provided €300 million of a €700 million sustainability-linked refinancing of retail giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s Westfield Centro mall in Oberhausen – one of Germany’s prime shopping centres.

 

BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR: FRANCE
Winner: Societe Generale
Second place: BNP Paribas
Third place: Natixis

Paris-based lender Societe Generale was active in France last year. In January, it underwrote a €185 million green financing of 50 Mobicap residences, designed for people with reduced mobility. In February, it was involved, including as ESG coordinator, in a €302.5 million green financing of Carré Sénart, a shopping centre managed by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in Lieusaint, near Paris. In April, it provided €40.7 million to US manager Carlyle for a French last-mile logistics portfolio.

 

BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR: SOUTHERN EUROPE
Winner: BNP Paribas
Second place: ING
Third place: Crédit Agricole CIB

French lender BNP Paribas closed several deals in the region. In March, it partnered with French peer Crédit Agricole in a €390 million term loan and revolving credit facility for Spanish healthcare firm Healthcare Activos, in a significant European healthcare sector financing. In April, it was sole underwriter of a term loan to refinance the capital expenditure on retail owner McArthurGlen’s La Reggia Designer Outlet, the biggest outlet retail scheme in southern Italy.

 

ALTERNATIVE LENDER OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
Second place: PIMCO Prime Real Estate
Third place: LaSalle Investment Management

The real estate debt business of US mega-manager Blackstone demonstrated an appetite for European transactions in 2022. It originated $3.8 billion across 31 deals during the first three quarters. These included a £465 million (€528 million) financing for UK hotel business Village Hotels, owned by US manager KSL Capital Partners. It also expanded its logistics lending programme with $2.3 billion of transactions, including a £422 million loan to real estate company Cain International.

 

ALTERNATIVE LENDER OF THE YEAR: UK
Winner: Cheyne Capital
Second place: M&G Investments
Third place: Cain International

In the year to November, around 60 percent of London-based manager Cheyne’s lending was based in the UK. Loans included £219 million (€249 million) to Goldman Sachs-backed retirement living developer Riverstone for its scheme in Kensington, London – the UK’s largest single-asset debt deal in the later living sector. It also provided £187 million to manager LaSalle Investment Management for the acquisition and construction of a Regal London mixed-use development in Wembley, London.

 

ALTERNATIVE LENDER OF THE YEAR: GERMANY
Winner: CAERUS Debt Investments
Second place: Empira
Third place: Aukera Real Estate

In April, Dusseldorf-based manager CAERUS, which lends through its senior and whole loan real estate debt fund, issued two financing transactions totalling €56 million, one of which financed a German hotel portfolio. In the same month, it also advised a German insurance company on a €65 million, four-year senior student housing loan for an ESG-certified complex in Dortmund, operated by BaseCamp, which opened in late 2021.

 

ALTERNATIVE LENDER OF THE YEAR: FRANCE
Winner: PIMCO Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate)
Second place: Cheyne Capital
Third place: Amundi Asset Management

PIMCO Prime Real Estate, formerly known as Allianz Real Estate, made its mark in the French lending market during the judging period. In December 2021, it provided a €466 million loan to refinance a prime, cross-border retail portfolio, of which seven assets were in Paris, and three in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. French deals also included €127 million of green development finance for mixed-use specialist Apsys for a retail and lifestyle centre in Grenoble.

 

ALTERNATIVE LENDER OF THE YEAR: SOUTHERN EUROPE
Winner: Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
Second place: Generali Real Estate
Third place: Incus Capital

By the end of September, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies had originated €214 million of loans across southern European markets in three transactions. Key among them was a €153 million loan to North American real estate manager Brookfield for the acquisition and redevelopment of the Hotel Princesa Plaza, a hospitality-led complex in Madrid. Brookfield had bought the asset in May.

 

LENDER OF THE YEAR: BENELUX
Winner: ING
Second place: QSix Real Estate Finance
Third place: Standard Chartered Bank

Dutch bank ING was active in its home region during 2022. One stand-out loan was the €204 million facility it underwrote in August to refinance a portfolio of life sciences assets located across the Netherlands for the Dutch company Kadans Science Partner. The loan was one of the largest life sciences real estate financing transactions by that point, and one of the most notable property financing transactions in the Benelux region last year.

 

LENDER OF THE YEAR – OFFICES: EUROPE
Winner: M&G Investments
Second place: Berlin Hyp
Third place: Crédit Agricole CIB

Offices remained a challenged sector during 2022, although UK-based M&G was among those that continued to provide finance in the area. The firm provided a £79 million (€90 million), three-year loan to fund the acquisition and transformation of a dated West End of London office building into a modern workspace. The property will remain fully vacant throughout the loan term as the owner aims to revamp it, targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating upon completion, in addition to WELL and NABERS certifications.

 

LENDER OF THE YEAR – LOGISTICS: EUROPE
Winner: Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
Second place: Citi
Third place: Aareal Bank

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies was a frequent lender in the logistics market during 2022. The firm reported completing $2.3 billion across 19 logistics lending deals in 2022. Deals closed last year included a £422 million (€478 million) loan to finance property firm Cain International’s big-box logistics aggregation strategy, and a £500 million loan to a UK conglomerate to finance its portfolio, which BREDS described as consisting primarily of “mission-critical” warehouses.

 

LENDER OF THE YEAR – RETAIL: EUROPE
Winner: PIMCO Prime Real Estate
Second place: Apollo Global Management
Third place: Aareal Bank

The German manager was among those to continue financing retail, providing almost €1.3 billion in new loans or refinancing deals in the sector between December 2021 and July 2022. Deals included the €466 million financing of a prime, cross-border portfolio in France and Belgium in December 2021, plus loans in the Netherlands and France for a combined €430 million. It also provided €400 million in the refinancing of the Westfield Centro retail centre in Oberhausen, Germany.

 

LENDER OF THE YEAR – RESIDENTIAL: EUROPE
Winner: Cheyne Capital
Second place: Societe Generale
Third place: ARA Venn

Cheyne provided loans across a variety of residential asset types. These included a £219 million (€248 million) loan in April to retirement accommodation provider Riverstone for a later-living property in London’s Kensington district, and its £187 million loan to LaSalle in May for the Regal London residential-led scheme in Wembley, London. In September, it provided a loan to private equity firm Great Grey Investments for The Ensemble in Amsterdam, comprising apartments, offices and other commercial facilities.

 

SMALL-TICKET MARKET LENDER OF THE YEAR (SUB-€20M MARKET): EUROPE
Winner: ASK Partners
Second place: M7 Capital
Third place: Cain International for Fortwell strategy

For London-based ASK, 2022 was a landmark year. In August, it reached its £1 billion (€1.1 billion) lending milestone. In October, UK challenger bank OakNorth Bank bought a 50 percent stake in the business. In 2022, up to November, ASK provided £390 million of loans. Deals included £6.5 million to finance a 1.5-acre site in London’s St John’s Wood with planning for an assisted living scheme; and €9.4 million for six freehold properties in London, with planning for 237 residential units.

 

MID-MARKET LENDER OF THE YEAR (€20M-€70M MARKET): EUROPE
Winner: Tristan Capital Partners
Second place: BentallGreenOak
Third place: Investec Real Estate

London-based manager Tristan targeted the mid-market in 2022. In the 12 months to December 2022, through its TIPS One fund, it completed or commenced documentation on 10 loans representing €470 million of lending across the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands. Deals included its first loan in France, supporting the €60 million acquisition of South Station, a freehold office asset located in Massy, Paris, in April.

 

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Lloyds Banking Group
Second place: PIMCO Prime Real Estate
Third place: Aviva Investors

UK lender Lloyds, which first began providing property loans through a dedicated ‘green’ strategy in 2016, continued to innovate in sustainability last year. It closed the first example of its new Green Commercial Mortgage product, with a loan backing manager Pictet’s purchase of residential assets in London. It also provided the first example of a new Sustainable Development Loan product for a Scottish residential scheme. In the sustainability-linked loans market, it provided £525 million (€596 million) to social housing provider L&Q.

 

SOCIAL IMPACT LENDER OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Lloyds Banking Group
Second place: OakNorth Bank
Third place: Berlin Hyp

Lloyds was voted the winner of the inaugural Social Impact Lender accolade, designed to recognise debt providers that have incorporated socially conscious measures into their activities. It has provided £12.4 billion (€14 billion) in the social housing sector since 2018 – including a £75 million loan to a southwest England social housing provider in April. The bank is a headline sponsor of the ‘Regeneration Brainery’ programme, which supports young adults from deprived backgrounds in careers in property, construction and regeneration.

 

BORROWER FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: Blackstone
Second place: CBRE Investment Management
Third place: Vonovia

By the end of September, Blackstone had sourced more than €17 billion of debt across around 30 European transactions. It sourced debt from a variety of capital sources, including senior balance sheet loans from banks, institutional investors and debt funds, as well as mezzanine financing, asset-backed securities and corporate bond markets. In March, it was sponsor in a rare 2022 European securitisation to finance 42 Italian logistics assets.

 

FUNDRAISING OF THE YEAR: EUROPE
Winner: PGIM Real Estate for PGIM Real Estate Capital VII
Second place: Cheyne Capital for CRECH VI and VII
Third place: DRC Savills Investment Management for European Real Estate Debt IV

In January, manager PGIM Real Estate closed its seventh high-yield real estate debt fund in Europe. The firm raised the largest vehicle of its type targeting the continent since the start of the pandemic, with PGIM Real Estate Capital VII closing with €1.82 billion in capital commitments, after targeting €1.5 billion. In a signal that capital allocators pivoted towards credit strategies, it raised around half of its capital from new investors.