Tikehau and Altarea team up for €1bn real estate credit platform

French property developer Altarea and alternative investment management group Tikehau Capital have joined forces to launch a €1bn real estate credit platform. Some €200m has already been secured from the duo, which is seeking to bridge “an anticipated wide liquidity gap in the market”. The platform will provide flexible capital solutions to offices, retail, industrial, residential, logistics and hospitality. It will be led by Maxime Laurent-Bellue, head of tactical strategies at Tikehau Capital Its primary focus will be on asset-backed and traditional corporate financings, primarily through junior mezzanine or whole-loan debt instruments. Tikehau co-founder Antoine Flamarion said: “We are excited to launch our real estate credit platform as we see a number of upcoming potential attractive opportunities throughout Europe.” He added: “We believe that this platform will offer investors potential attractive returns while providing much-needed financing solutions for European property owners and developers, in particular in an environment where interest rates are rising sharply and liquidity dries up.” Tikehau Capital has already completed 15 real estate credit investments to date, worth €500m. Altarea founder and executive chair Alain Taravella added: “We believe there is a strong momentum to initiate this strategy today. Real estate companies and sponsors are still adjusting to the new environment with higher interest rates, more difficult refinancing ahead and progressive price discovery on asset values across all asset classes.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews