Investec Real Estate has appointed Jason Presence and Seb Walley as originators, and Gordon Milnes as syndicator, to lead its newly formed syndication team, as it targets larger and more sophisticated transactions.
To date, Investec has arranged £635m of syndicated real estate finance, partnering with third party lenders.
All three will report directly to head of real estate, Mark Bladon. Presence and Walley will be responsible for originating senior development and investment facilities, typically in the £60m to £130m range, which Investec will syndicate to its global capital partners seeking access to UK real estate loans.
Milnes will be responsible for managing Investec’s current capital partner relationships alongside establishing new ones, leveraging his global distribution experience. Investec will continue to focus on its core sectors of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA); Build to Rent (“BTR”); Build to Sell, light industrial and logistics; and office repositioning.
Presence has over 30 years’ experience in the corporate banking sector. He joins Investec from NatWest, where he was regional director, responsible for a £2.5bn pan-sector loan book.
He oversaw an 18-strong team, supporting a range of UK and international clients including private equity, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, listed companies and funds. Previous roles include managing national housebuilders at RBS and joint head of global property finance UK at the Bank of Ireland.
Walley was previously a relationship director in the NatWest Private Clients Real Estate team, where he managed a £700m portfolio of HNW and institutional clients, with a focus on the living, office and multi-let logistics sectors. He brings over 15 years of origination, restructuring, real estate advisory and loan sale experience.
Milnes joins Investec from Credit Agricole, where he was executive director, debt optimisation and distribution, responsible for structuring and distributing UK syndicated real estate loans. He previously spent 14 years at Lloyds Banking Group, which included building its loan syndication business in Asia.
Notable loans that Investec has syndicated recently include a £170m facility in conjunction with its partner lender for Greystar’s flagship 327-unit BTR scheme in Canary Wharf and a £65m facility for Scape to finance its 693-bed PBSA development in Leeds.
Bladon said: “Having established a strong syndication offering in recent years, the appointments of Seb, Jason and Gordon, with over 60 years’ of combined experience, will allow us to accelerate our off-balance sheet loan book growth ambitions.
“We are increasingly seeing borrowers seeking competitively priced club deals, which very few lenders are able to arrange. Leveraging the strength of our global institutional client base and market leading Living platform, we see a unique opportunity to connect clients with third party capital looking for exposure to what remains an attractive UK real estate market.”
Presence added: “The market fragmentation caused by the current macroeconomic volatility presents an opportunity for well capitalised and highly experienced and disciplined lenders such as Investec. In a higher cost environment, we believe a sophisticated, competitively priced syndication proposition will further differentiate Investec’s offering.”
Milnes concluded: “With lender appetite for exposure to UK real estate still strong, there is an opportunity to leverage our 25-year origination platform to partner with a diverse mix of global capital providers seeking to access the market.”
