Blackstone Group has a renewed focus on flexible financing covenants after coming under pressure in the last cycle.
Speaking at the European Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Forum, real estate managing director Anthony Myers said that unlike in the US, the firm’s European loans “had tougher covenants and the banks were less willing to work with us” in the downturn.
He added: “While we’ve always focused on the covenant package, this time we are putting in place flexibility and covenant headroom.”
Myers, who was involved in the firm’s 2007 purchase of the Hilton Hotels portfolio, which includes the Waldorf Astoria, said that in Europe Blackstone was “leveraged into the low 60s on average”.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
