Father-son duo William and Richard Mack and former Blackstone Group managing director Peter Sotoloff are starting a new real estate debt fund.
Together, the trio hopes to raise more than $750 million for the private equity fund, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fund will provide both junior debt and bridge loans to developers in the U.S. and Europe, according to the newspaper.
“The opportunity is to focus on more difficult assets that have a story to them in development and redevelopment,” Richard Mack told the Journal.
The Macks and Sotoloff, who left Blackstone in June, are forming a new company, called Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. The company will also provide mortgages and manage a hedge fund that will trade in real estate securities. The paper noted that the Macks are looking to capitalize on an improving real estate market and a growing investor appetite to get in on the property boom.
Private equity firms are finding it easer to raise funds for real estate investments, according to the newspaper. Globally, capital-raising by private equity firms reached $65 billion in the first three quarters of 2014, the highest level since 2008 and up from $56 billion during the same time last year. [WSJ] — Claire Moses