$838 million company originating senior and mezzanine financing
solutions for commercial real estate borrowers
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
KKR today announced the final closing of a private placement of capital
into KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (“KREF” or the “Company”), a
non-traded mortgage REIT, managed by KKR with a primary mandate to
invest in performing commercial real estate debt.
After closing of the transaction, KREF has approximately $838 million of
equity capital available to make investments. In addition, KREF has $1.0
billion of existing borrowing capacity across its lending facilities and
plans to continue to grow and diversify its access to financing as
additional equity capital is drawn into the vehicle. Participants in the
equity placement include KKR, KKR employees and several institutional
investors. Currently, KREF has a portfolio of 22 investments, in the
United States. Proceeds of the private placement will be used by the
Company to continue to fund its active pipeline of newly-originated
financing opportunities.
KKR’s Real Estate Credit business, co-headed by Chris Lee and Matt
Salem, was established in 2015 to offer solutions to commercial property
owners. The business leverages KKR’s integrated global investment
platform in order to create differentiated access to borrower and
financing relationships, market intelligence, and underwriting
capabilities. KREF, the platform’s first investment vehicle, is a
balance sheet lender focused on transitional senior loans, subordinate
debt and preferred equity collateralized by commercial real estate
assets. In addition, KREF has invested in non-investment grade
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities and has the ability to invest in
other real estate-related securities.
Chris Lee said: “We are excited about the progress we have made in
building an integrated real estate investment platform in the US,
positioning KKR as a global provider of both equity and debt capital
across multiple investment strategies. When it comes to sourcing and
underwriting transactions, we believe this combination is what sets us
apart from other real estate lending platforms.”
KKR believes that the evolving regulatory landscape creates real estate
lending opportunities for well-capitalized and scaled platforms. In a
real estate capital markets environment where traditional market
participants are more constrained, KKR believes that there is an
increasing role for non-regulated providers of capital.
Matt Salem said: “Given the secular changes altering the real estate
debt capital markets, we see attractive opportunities to invest in US
real estate credit. In addition to the evolving regulatory landscape,
our existing relationship with borrowers, intermediaries and financing
providers allows us to compete effectively for transactions and deliver
attractive risk-adjusted returns to KKR and our investors.”
Since launching a dedicated real estate platform in 2011, KKR has
invested or committed over $3 billion in capital across more than 60
real estate transactions in the U.S., Europe and Asia as of September
30, 2016. The global real estate team consists of over 45 dedicated
investment professionals, spanning both the equity and debt sides of our
business.
About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages investments across
multiple asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure,
real estate, credit and hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive
investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment
approach, employing world‐class people, and driving growth and value
creation at the asset level. KKR invests its own capital alongside its
partners’ capital and brings opportunities to others through its capital
markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the
activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR
& Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and
on Twitter @KKR_Co.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161121005338/en/
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Kleiman
media@kkr.com
Source: KKR