Investor interest drives demand for alternative debt capital in Nordics real estate market

STOCKHOLM, 12, January 2016
Brunswick Real Estate (BRE), a market leading adviser, lender and investor in the Nordics, is now making preparations to launch a second debt fund focusing on commercial property in the region, as access to sources of traditional lending continues to be tight.

The firm broke new ground when it held the final closing of the first debt fund in March 2015 – Leimdörfer Real Estate Capital I (LREC) – focusing solely on real estate debt as an asset class. The fund – which attracted some of the largest institutions in the region as investors and has now been renamed Brunswick Real Estate Capital I – offers mainly senior loans of approximately SEK 100 to 400 million with terms of up to eight years.

Among the deals it supported last year was the acquisition of two retail properties in Stockholm,  when Revcap and its local partner acquired Orminge Centrum and Rotebro Handel from the listed company AtriumLjungberg using senior secured financing from BREC. The properties provided approx. 32,000 sqm of retail premises.
 
Louise Richnau, Chief Executive Officer
at Brunswick Real Estate Capital Advisory, said:
“Nordic real estate continues to deliver very strong returns as an asset class, as well as providing high levels of liquidity. These factors, coupled with restrictive lending terms from traditional sources of capital, means we have seen a real demand from investors for low risk, low volatile investment alternatives as well as from borrowers seeking a greater choice of funding providers. As a result we are making plans to launch our second Nordics debt fund.”

Commenting on the decision to rename LREC to BREC,
Peter Leimdörfer, CEO and founding partner of Brunswick Real Estate added:
“Following the unification of our services as Brunswick Real Estate earlier last year and to avoid any confusion with investment bank Leimdörfer, it made sense to bring our debt financing arm – which is a very important part of our offering to clients – in line with our international brand.”