BGO surpasses target with final close of third Europe Secured Lending Fund at €1.38B

• This latest close brings the global debt-related fundraising total for BGO to more than USD$7B in the past 10 years.

London (January 24, 2024) – BGO, a leading global real estate investment management advisor, real estate lending advisor, and provider of real estate services, has today announced the successful final close of its third Europe Secured Lending Fund, with a total of €1.38 billion in commitments from 40 global institutional investors. The Fund surpassed its initial target of €1.35 billion.

This is BGO’s third fund for Europe Secured Lending and is a complement to the BGO UK Secured Lending strategy, which raised £1.43 billion for its third fund and which also held its final close in 2023. Combined with BGO’s UK-specific debt strategy fundraising, the firm has raised USD$3.3 billion over the past three years. Today’s announcement also adds to a decade of successful debt strategy closes for BGO (and its predecessor firms) across the globe, with more than USD$7 billion in funds raised over that timeframe.

“We believe that BGO’s Europe and UK Secured Lending strategies align to clear investor demand and the opportunity to take advantage of the continuing alternative credit market for commercial real estate today,” said Jim Blakemore, Managing Partner, Global and European Head of Debt at BGO. “This fund has been raised in a challenging environment, so the fact that we exceeded our target speaks to our reputation as one of the largest and most trusted alternative lending teams in Europe.”

The Europe debt business was founded over ten years ago at predecessor firm GreenOak Real Estate by senior management Jim Blakemore, Manja Stueck, and Chris Taylor, who have been working together for over 18 years. Since, it has established 8 discretionary debt funds and has invested over USD$6.5 billion in commercial real estate loans in Europe and the UK.

“The BGO platform, with its integrated asset management capabilities and the breadth of our presence in Europe’s most important markets continues to earn us the confidence of our investors and borrowers. The steady growth of our debt platform is a testament to our team’s consistency and commitment to performance for our clients.” added Blakemore.

The lending strategy was designed to be relevant through market cycles. It provides direct lending across a range of real estate asset classes, including logistics, multi-family residential, hospitality, retail and office across the UK and Western Europe. It focusses on mid-market senior and whole loans and has the ability to provide junior debt for appropriate opportunities. Loan amounts typically range from €25M-€300M.

Recent deals include a loan facility of over £100 million for a life science development in Cambridge/ UK, and over €200 million for a Build to Rent residential platform strategy in major Spanish cities.

The dedicated BGO in-house team asset manages each loan investment, and as an SFDR Article 8 fund, environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations will be integrated throughout this third Europe Secured Lending Fund’s lending process and asset management of the strategy.

About BGO

BGO is a leading, global real estate investment management advisor, real estate lending advisor, and a globally-recognized provider of real estate services. BGO serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients with approximately $81 billion USD of assets under management (as of September 30, 2023). BGO has offices in 27 cities across thirteen countries with deep, local knowledge, experience, and extensive networks in the regions where we invest, provide real estate lending solutions, and manage real estate assets on behalf of our clients.

BGO’s global lending platform is active in the UK, Europe, the US, and Canada. In the UK and Europe, BGO, on behalf of its clients, focuses on senior, whole loan and mezzanine lending solutions typically structured to enable borrowers to implement their business plans.

BGO is a part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Sun Life. The assets under management shown above includes real estate equity and mortgage investments managed by the BGO group of companies and their affiliates, and as of 1Q21, includes certain uncalled capital commitments for discretionary capital until they are legally expired and excludes certain uncalled capital commitments where the investor has complete discretion over investment.

For more information, please visit www.bgo.com

Media Contact
Rahim Ladha, Global Head of Communications
media@bgo.com