Nuveen Real Estate has raised €150 million for its pan-European debt strategy.

With €150 million in initial commitments, Nuveen Real Estate has completed the first close of its first pan-European debt strategy.

Nuveen was able to raise the necessary funds from a number of German institutions, as well as a commitment from TIAA, Nuveen's parent company.

Nuveen's European-core-plus debt strategy is in its fourth iteration, but this is the first to target opportunities across continental Europe.

The previous three iterations of Nuveen's European core-plus debt strategy were all focused on the United Kingdom.

A total capital raise of €500 million is the goal of the pan-European strategy, which focuses on whole and mezzanine loans secured by European real estate.

"Since the global financial crisis, the European real estate debt market has changed significantly," said Christian Janssen, head of commercial real estate debt (Europe) at Nuveen Real Estate. "The retrenchment of traditional bank lenders and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has created a significant opportunity for non-bank lenders to enter the European real estate debt market and grow its market share."

"As such we believe European commercial real estate debt can offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns relative to fixed income investments and potential down-side risk mitigation," he continued.

This agreement, as well as the expansion of the pan-European strategy, comes on the heels of Nuveen's Real Estate Debt Team originating more than €6.5 billion in new loans.

The loans are backed by a variety of assets, including logistics, residential, life sciences, and office space.

By fLEXI tEAM