Lending

Louise Gillon, head of hotel finance at lender Leumi UK, says she is confident in long-term demand for high-quality accommodation in city centre locations.

The real estate manager has hired Isabelle Brennan from M&G and Michelle Liu from CIT to expand its debt platforms on both sides of the Atlantic.

Duncan Batty and Dan Riches will be taking on John Barakat’s role at M&G as he leaves the property lending platform he set up 12 years ago.

Following its financing of a regional UK office-to-residential conversion, the lender’s chief executive says repurposing projects are creating opportunities for debt providers.

The report, compiled by The Business School, formerly known as Cass, reveals new UK lending dropped 23% to £33.6bn in 2020.

The bank’s head of real estate finance for Germany's regions says it faced stiff competition to back the €700m Silberturm tower purchase in Frankfurt.

The Toronto-based alternative asset manager will now expand its product offerings stateside following the take-private transaction.

Among the past week’s most noteworthy items, Link Group’s latest debt survey found that most UK debt providers expect to increase loan originations in 2021 despite the persisting pandemic.

Michael Zerda, head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies in Europe, will take on Amy Klein Aznar’s role at LaSalle as she becomes executive chair of the debt and special situations business.

The property manager will target senior loans across a range of UK commercial real estate sectors for terms of up to 50 years.