Brookland Partners is planning to expand its business to include real estate debt funds after selling a stake to hedge fund Omni Partners.
Nassar Hussain’s debt advisory firm is looking to tap into Omni Partners’ institutional investment platform to launch new vehicles, including a multi-faceted debt vehicle.
What Hussain has called “the next stage in Brookland’s natural evolution” will add a new platform to the business, which was set up by the former Merrill Lynch director in mid-2009.
Brookland has established itself as a top-10 global restructuring firm, and in 2013 created its Brookland Financial platform to connect lenders and borrowers.
The launch was timed to take advantage of the increased availability of real estate debt capital and increased interest in real estate investment and refinancing by investors.
The deal with Omni, which was founded by Steve Clark in 2004 and has $650m (£387m) of assets under management across three funds, gives it a backer with institutional fundraising experience as it continues to grow its debt business.
Omni has one real estate debt product, the Omni Secured Lending Fund, which it launched in February after buying short-term UK property lender Capital Bridging Finance last year.
CBF originates and manages loans from the fund which are secured against UK commercial and residential properties for a maximum duration of 18 months and LTVs of up to 70%.
Clark said the firm “gained traction with investors” after launching its first real estate fund and “is confident that the sector and private debt funds capitalising on opportunities within the space remain attractive to institutional investors”.
Bridget.O’Connell@estatesgazette.com
