Arrow Global announces full acquisition of Maslow Capital

By Bridging Loan Directory 23rd August 2023

Arrow Global Group Limited (‘Arrow Global’), a leading European vertically integrated asset manager specialising in credit and real estate, today announced the full acquisition of Maslow Capital, a leading provider of real estate finance.

Today’s acquisition follows Arrow Global’s initial purchase of a significant minority stake in December 2021 and a 20-month period of successful collaboration that has seen the significant expansion of Maslow Capital’s loan book.

Founded in 2009, Maslow Capital has built an exceptional track record in originating, underwriting, and servicing specialist real estate loans ranging from £10 million to £300 million.

Maslow Capital’s steadfast support for enterprising developers — from SME house builders to complex, large-scale projects undertaken by some of the UK’s most respected developers — has played a pivotal role in the successful completion of real estate projects valued at over £5.1 billon (€5.9 billion), resulting in circa 17,500 units across 257 projects.

Consistent with Arrow’s philosophy of owning platform businesses at the general partner level, this acquisition strengthens Arrow’s Lending Opportunities strategy and complements its existing investment activities across opportunistic credit and real estate.

While the acquisition expands Arrow’s direct lending capabilities in the UK, it also enables Maslow Capital, which will continue under the leadership of Chairman Marc Rose and CEO Ellis Sher, to significantly expand its operational reach across Europe by leveraging Arrow’s extensive European asset management and servicing network.

Asset-backed private credit has become increasingly appealing to investors due to the protection afforded by real estate collateral whilst delivering attractive risk adjusted returns as interest rates remain elevated.

Notwithstanding a higher interest rate environment, housing demand in many parts of Europe outstrips supply and Arrow continues to seize investment opportunities in markets that display that core characteristic.

Today’s announcement reinforces Arrow’s ongoing commitment to the real estate sector, including its recent acquisitions of Eagle Street Partners, a real estate asset manager and developer mainly focused on the UK and Ireland, and Blue Current Capital, an ESG-focused real estate asset manager dedicated to developing electric vehicle charging hubs across the UK and Europe.

This latest acquisition further augments Arrow’s ability to generate sustainable value throughout market cycles across a range of alternative asset classes.

The investment in Maslow Capital comes after it delivered a record year on all metrics, further enhancing Arrow’s existing UK platforms which include Eagle Street Partners, Blue Current Capital, Drydensfairfax and Bergen Capital.

With this addition, the Group now owns 18 specialist asset management and servicing platforms across five European markets.

Zach Lewy, Group CEO and CIO of Arrow Global, said:

“Arrow invests across European geographies, asset classes and positions in the capital stack. To execute this strategy, we have developed our geographical and asset class expertise.

Maslow is an accretive addition to our existing direct lending strategy which includes specialist mortgage and term products through RNHB.

Being part of the Arrow platform will allow Maslow to expand its services across Europe. We are delighted to announce the full acquisition.”

Marc Rose and Ellis Sher, Chairman and CEO of Maslow Capital, jointly said:

“We look forward to leveraging Arrow’s deep platform capabilities across Europe and to develop Maslow into a leading pan-European real estate finance provider.

This acquisition marks the beginning of our broader strategy to offer adaptable, innovative, and timely real estate financing solutions throughout Europe’s living sectors, using Arrow’s extensive resources and capital to create value for all stakeholders.”