BGO raises €1.38bn for third Europe Secured Lending fund
Global real estate investment firm BGO has closed its third Europe Secured Lending fund with €1.38bn (£1.18bn) in commitments from 40 institutional investors.
The fund surpassed its initial target of €1.35bn.
This is BGO’s third fund for its Europe Secured Lending business and is a complement to its UK Secured Lending strategy, which raised £1.43bn for its third fund at the end of 2023.
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BGO provides direct lending across a range of property 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, as well as providing junior debt for appropriate opportunities. Loan amounts typically range from €25m to €300m.
BGO has raised $3.3bn across its European and UK-specific debt strategies over the past three years.
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“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.”
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BGO’s Europe debt business was founded over 10 years ago at predecessor firm GreenOak Real Estate by senior management Jim Blakemore, Manja Stueck, and Chris Taylor.
It has since established eight discretionary debt funds and has invested over $6.5bn in commercial real estate loans in Europe and the UK.
