Ares Management Corporation announced that Philip Moore, Alessandro Luca and Anisa Dudhia have joined Ares to expand its real estate debt presence in Europe. These additions reflect a natural evolution of the Ares Real Estate Group’s 25-year track record in European real estate equity investing and its 10-year track record in U.S. real estate debt. The team expects to continue adding additional professionals in the near-term.
The team focuses on originating and managing commercial real estate (“CRE”) loans through its extensive regional networks of owner-operators, sponsors and intermediaries. The team targets loan originations for institutional quality Western European real estate properties, including residential, industrial, office, hospitality, mixed-use and retail. Working collaboratively across the firm, the team leverages Ares’ European real estate equity, European corporate direct lending and U.S. real estate debt platforms to access proprietary relationships, market intelligence and transaction opportunities. The team provides a range of creative and flexible financing solutions across the capital structure of its borrowers to seek to drive attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors. The team has already completed its first loan, providing €113 million in acquisition financing for a landmark office complex in Belgium through a fund managed by the Ares Real Estate Group.
Mr. Moore joins Ares as a Partner and Head of the team. Prior to joining Ares, Mr. Moore was a Managing Director in The Carlyle Group’s flagship Credit Opportunities Fund where he headed up the Real Estate investment activities for that strategy across Europe and North America. Mr. Luca joins as a Principal having previously been part of Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Finance team since 2012. Ms. Dudhia joins as a Vice President and Counsel in the Ares Legal Team from Clifford Chance LLP, where she focused on real estate finance.
“We are pleased to welcome Phil, Alessandro and Anisa, whose extensive experience originating and structuring CRE financing transactions in Europe provides a strong foundation for our continued expansion of the Real Estate Group,” said Bill Benjamin, Partner and Head of the Ares Real Estate Group. “As we continue to grow this team, we believe our greater focus on European real estate debt complements our existing Ares Real Estate team and platform and further differentiates us in the marketplace as a comprehensive solutions provider.”
“Given the strength of Ares’ European real estate and credit businesses, the team and I are pleased to join a leading global platform at this pivotal time for our industry and the evolving market landscape,” said Mr. Moore. “Bolstered by Ares’ scale and collaborative approach and demonstrated by our first loan, we believe we are well-positioned to directly source loans and provide innovative financing solutions in the U.K. and Western Europe. Our pipeline of pending and future transactions continues to build as we seek to capitalize on the Ares platform and the robust market opportunity.”