D.E. Shaw Group has launched D.E. Shaw Real Estate Advisors, an advisory unit that will focus on complex workouts and restructurings. “We are open to working with just about any real estate asset class and we can work on any part of the capital stack,” said Matthew Coleman, who co-leads the unit with George Rizk. The unit will also focus on borrower and creditor and tax and legal workouts.
The unit is targeting assets of $20 million to $400 million, Coleman said, adding that larger transactions are out of its scope. The majority of its clients have so far been in the retail sector but this sample might not be indicative of the market as a whole. D.E. Shaw believes it can distinguish itself through its background in investing across the capital structure. Additionally, the firm has in-house legal, tax and research expertise.
The genesis of the unit began in 2006 when D.E. Shaw formed a principal investment group to acquire debt and equity positions in commercial real estate. Since then, the firm has acquired a substantial portfolio and significant expertise in workouts. “We felt we had a unique perspective of seeing both borrower and creditor workouts,” Coleman noted.
