AllianceBernstein (AB) has launched a European Commercial Real Estate Debt (ECRED) business through a partnership with Lacarne Capital, a pan-European real estate debt platform led by Clark Coffee.
With more than €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) of initial capital, ECRED will be one of the largest real estate direct lending platform launches in Europe. The business will focus on direct origination and secondary participations in whole loans, subordinate loans, preferred equity and other real estate–backed investments across the United Kingdom and Europe.
AB noted this is an opportune time for ECRED’s launch, as the disruption created by COVID-19 has made traditional sources of capital harder to secure, resulting in an increased opportunity set and relevance for alternative lenders.
“Following the success of our U.S. CRED business, Europe is the logical next step for expanding AB’s growing private alternatives franchise,” noted Matthew Bass, head of privat
