Asia Capital Real Estate closes $325m credit fund

Asia Capital Real Estate closes $325m credit fund

Asia Capital Real Estate (ACRE) has raised over $325 million of commitments for its fourth fund, ACRE Credit I, exceeding its initial $300 million target.

ACRE Credit I provides first mortgage bridge loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity to best-in-class multifamily owner-operators secured by institutional grade real estate across the U.S.

In a low-yield environment, the fund is intended to generate double-digit interest rates and target IRRs in the low- to mid-teens, said Asia Capital Real Estate.

Baird acted as financial advisor for many of the fund’s largest commitments, including those from institutional investment managers Almanac Realty Investors and OPTrust.

Almanac Realty Investors, the private real estate investment arm of Neuberger Berman, made a $320 million capital commitment to various funds managed by ACRE at the beginning of the year.

”A large percentage of Almanac’s commitment was allocated to ACRE Credit I,” said the company in a press release.

“The success of our first direct lending fund comes as a result of ACRE’s widely recognized ability to understand the market and identify opportunities to deploy capital into credit investments secured by strong, incoming-producing multifamily assets,” said ACRE Founding Partner Les Menkes.

To date, ACRE Credit I has raised more than $325 million of equity since its launch and has since closed and committed to provide more than $700 million whole loans across 17 transactions.

”These loans are meant to support the acquisition, lease-up, redevelopment and recapitalization of multifamily assets in growing secondary markets such as Miami, Fla.; Durham, N.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Orlando, Fla., Charleston, S.C.; and Dallas, Texas,” added the company.