The PERE Podcast

On the heels of Real Estate Capital’s deep-dive analysis of the emergence of back leverage in European property markets, a new episode of The PERE Podcast looks at how this form of finance will reshape the way real estate debt funds provide loans on the continent. A common feature of the US market for some years, the increasing use of back leverage by banks and alternative lenders in Europe is not merely a trend, “but a structural shift in how commercial real estate debt is conceived and executed,” according Jessica Qureshi, an associate at Knight Frank Capital Advisory and author of a February research report on the topic. How, exactly, does back leverage work, and what does its increased adoption mean for global real estate debt markets? Listen in as Real Estate Capital editor Dan Cunningham, PERE Credit editor Samantha Rowan and PERE Credit deputy editor Randy Plavajka break it all down.

Apollo Global Management’s agreement to acquire Utah-based Bridge Investment Group, announced earlier this week, is set to create a $110 billion combined real estate platform, growing Apollo’s AUM in the sector by 40 percent. This is a step change for the manager, helping it to scale its equity business – which focusses on residential and logistics – to its existing and sizeable credit business. The firm now has a suite of real estate capital solutions – but in today’s real estate equity and credit markets, why is this important? In this episode, Greg Dool, PERE’s America’s editor; Sam Rowan, editor of PERE Credit; and Dan Cunningham, editor of Real Estate Capital Europe, take a look at the deal and explore why managers are seeking not just scale, but breadth of offering.

Investment manager Barings’ agreement to acquire value-add specialist Artemis Real Estate Partners creates a combined $60 billion real estate behemoth that is well-suited to reap the benefits of a US market recovery. It also represents a major endorsement of Artemis, one of the sector’s largest women-founded firms, led by industry trailblazer and co-CEO Deborah Harmon. On this episode, PEI Group real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse and PERE EMEA editor Charlotte D’Souza break down the deal, how Barings and Artemis fit together and what it all means for private real estate’s road ahead.

New York offices are having a moment. As the ink dries on a pair of billion-dollar refinancing deals at 3 Bryant Park and the MetLife Building, the city's office sector may soon receive its most momentous vote of confidence yet, with bellwether investor Blackstone reportedly in talks to acquire a major stake in the 50-story tower at 1345 Sixth Avenue. All of this leads to a central question: Is this once-eulogized market finally getting its groove back? Listen in as PEI Group real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse chats with PERE Credit editor Samantha Rowan and PERE Deals editor Guelda Voien about a pivotal moment for the market and what it means for institutional investment in the sector going forward. To subscribe to the podcast, search for The PERE Podcast on your podcast platform of choice, or click here.

A number of new or emerging managers are attempting to grab market share as the next private real estate capital market cycle takes form. In this episode, PERE editor Evelyn Lee and Jonathan Brasse, editor-in-chief of the real estate for PEI Group, discuss firms on the fast track to industry prominence, and what their challenges tell us about the sorts of organizations jostling for position in the years ahead. The discussion is a meditation on PERE’s latest cover story, titled Next Contenders 2025: Asset managers ramping up in real estate. The episode also includes Lee’s interview with Phill Solomond, head of real estate at Stonepeak, one of the six firms featured in the cover story. The wide-ranging conversation covers everything from how Stonepeak's real estate and infrastructure teams work together on deals, the firm’s key achievements to date as a first-time real estate manager, and the investment opportunities Solomond is seeing in the new market cycle.

New York-based private equity giant KKR has reorganized its real estate and infrastructure businesses under a unified real assets platform with a combined $137 billion of assets under management. In this inaugural episode of The PERE Podcast, editor-in-chief of real estate for PEI Group Jonathan Brasse, PERE editor Evelyn Lee and PEI Group’s infrastructure editor-in-chief Bruno Alves dig into the details of the new business and reflect on the context of the DeepSeek AI revelations and their impacts on digital real assets. To subscribe to the podcast, search for The PERE Podcast on your podcast platform of choice, or click here. To learn more about the KKR merger, read our piece KKR makes real estate, infrastructure leadership changes.

The PERE podcast is a weekly discussion between members of our senior editorial team providing you with analysis-led commentary about the biggest events in private real estate capital markets around the world. Our discussion spans formation, strategy and deployment and draws from the ongoing coverage of PERE, PERE Credit and PERE Deals. Listen at www.perenews.com/podcast or subscribe wherever you like to listen.