This follows a sustained period of growth for the Europe and APAC real estate debt platform over the last three years, which has nearly doubled its loan commitments to more than €3.4 billion AUM ($3.9 billion) in this time, as well as expanded to 12 countries, welcomed nine new appointments to the team and diversified its range of strategies to include senior, construction and whole loans.

Key deals in 2021 included:

• a £140 million (€164 million) eight-year fixed rate senior loan against two London student accommodation properties to the London Student Accommodation Venture, a joint venture between Unite Group and GIC;
• an increase to a €85.6 million first mortgage loan secured against four Grade A logistics assets comprising a total of 116,600 sq m of space within the Los Gavilanes industrial park in Getafe, Madrid;
• new €225 million senior secured, floating rate loans secured against income-producing industrial portfolios in Ireland for KKR and Palm Capital.

Sam Mellor, Head of Europe & Asia-Pacific Real Estate Debt at Barings, said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved with our real estate debt platform in Europe and APAC at Barings over the last few years. Not only have we grown the size and scope of our loan book considerably, taking on new geographies that allow us to take advantage of Barings’ well-established platform of local offices and research capabilities, but we have also diversified our capital sources and the range of products that we are able to offer. This means that we are able to stay relevant to our sponsors’ range of activities, as well as offer our investors a complete range of products to suit their risk/return appetite in a truly flexible and intuitive way. The combination of credit expertise and local real estate knowledge means we can invest with a deep understanding of the real estate or portfolio in question underpinning all that we do. We have achieved over €975 million of realisations since inception in 2012, with no losses in the process, and we are very much looking forward to continuing and growing this successful track record in the years ahead.”

Chris Bates, Head of Europe Real Estate Debt Origination at Barings, said: “Since inception we have committed €4.4 billion ($5 billion) of investor capital, driven by our strong team of origination professionals that allows us to select the most attractive opportunities for our strategy. The team has also grown significantly in this time, with further new appointments in the pipeline as we look to further expand our geographic reach to France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Finland so that we are able to deploy debt capital in markets where we have existing local real estate expertise.”

Contacts:
Tali Robinson/Polly Warrack (SEC Newgate)
barings@secnewgate.co.uk

Barings Real Estate
Barings Real Estate (BRE) offers a broad range of global investment opportunities across the private debt and equity investment markets. BRE invests in all major property sectors and offers an expansive range of financing solutions to real estate borrowers. Follow us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/showcase/barings-alternative-investments.

About Barings
Barings is a $391+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment.