Downing has expanded its private credit platform with a new £500m funding line and the appointment of a commercial real estate lending head.

The £2.6bn investment firm said it has launched the £500m institutional funding line to increase its deployment capacity.

Alongside this, Downing has appointed George Cotterell as partner and head of commercial real estate lending. He has previously worked at Venn Partners and ESR Europe.

Read more: Downing appoints head of institutional solutions to drive platform expansion

“The addition of George, together with our new £500m institutional funding line, marks an important milestone in the next phase of our expansion,” said Kostas Manolis, deputy chief executive and head of private market investments at Downing.

“Scaling up our commercial real estate lending is a natural progression that broadens our offering and allows us to continue supporting a wide range of borrowers while delivering attractive opportunities for investors.”

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Downing has committed £1.5bn to private credit transactions since 2010, lending to businesses across residential and commercial real estate, as well as structured credit.

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