Castlelake, a global alternative investment manager with approximately 17 years of experience investing in asset-rich opportunities, announced that it has made a $150 million investment in Swedish specialty lender, IMH. The investment includes the acquisition of IMH's existing loans and a financing facility for the origination of new loans.
IMH focuses on lending up to SEK 50 million to small to medium-sized real estate investors and developers to address their short-term liquidity needs in areas such as construction and operations, and bridge loans backed by real estate assets. In its 8 years of existence, IMH has lent over SEK 1.3 billion in Sweden. In a market where there is a lack of credit availability for these borrowers, Castlelake believes that by partnering with IMH it can help expand access to high-quality loans that support local residential real estate investment.
"Partnering with IMH is an exciting next step for Castlelake as we continue to expand our presence in Europe and the Nordic region," said Philipp Braschel, Partner, European Real Assets at Castlelake. "IMH and its experienced management team are well-positioned to provide capital to a growing but underserved market, and we believe this investment can deliver value to our investors as well as IMH and its stakeholders."
"Castlelake has been an incredible partner throughout this process, and IMH expects to benefit greatly from their deep expertise in both the specialty finance and real assets space, making them an ideal choice as we chart the next steps on our expansion journey," said Jonas Hägerbäck, CEO of IMH.
This transaction builds on the Castlelake's experience investing in a diverse set of asset-rich opportunities across Europe, where it has acquired more than 7,000 assets across 12 European countries since its founding in 2005. It also taps the firm's experience in specialty finance, having invested over $3 billion in such opportunities, including acquisitions of more than 3,500 commercial and industrial loans and financing or acquiring more than 5 million consumer receivable accounts. Castlelake's recent activity in northern Europe includes $500 million in loans to real estate developers and investors that are active in transitioning assets to more modern usages and more than $600 million in financing facilities to consumer and small business credit originators in the UK.
About Castlelake
Castlelake, L.P. is a global alternative investment manager focused on investments in real assets, specialty finance and aviation. Founded in 2005, Castlelake manages approximately $21 billion of assets. The Castlelake team comprises more than 200 experienced professionals, including 89 investment professionals, across six offices in North America, Europe and Asia.