HSAM Europe is targeting approximately €1B to €2B (£830M to £1.6B) of senior secured real estate loans in the next one to two years and upward of €3B of real estate lending across Western Europe in the medium term as it expands its private credit lending platform.

Of that, the company expects around 25% to be deployed in the UK, with the precise geographic allocation driven by the opportunities that meet its underwriting criteria, the company told Bisnow.

The firm is targeting loans typically of €10M to €120M and up to a 75% loan-to-value ratio for acquisitions, refinancing and assets requiring lease-up, capital expenditure or development exit financing.

Loan terms will typically range from one to five years, with all-in borrowing costs starting at 6% per annum, depending on the asset, location, leverage and use of proceeds, the company added.

The firm provided a £12M senior secured bridge loan to Banor Capital to finance the acquisition and refinancing of the 148-key DoubleTree by Hilton in Cheltenham.

The 12-month facility refinanced existing construction debt, giving the borrower time to stabilise the hotel following a refurbishment before pursuing a conventional bank refinancing.

The lending push comes after HSAM bought European debt specialist RoundShield last year.

HSAM Europe said its lending strategy is aimed at transactions backed by institutional-quality real estate where timing, business plans or financing structures fall outside traditional bank lending criteria.

"We are perhaps best known for more complex and opportunistic lending, but that same underwriting capability is directly relevant to senior secured loans where borrowers need certainty, flexibility and a lender that understands the asset and the business plan," HSAM Europe Deputy Chief Investment Officer Max Leeb said in a statement.

"We have substantial appetite for senior lending across Western Europe. We can finance straightforward acquisitions and refinancings, but we are equally comfortable where there is a lease-up, capex programme, development exit or another element that means the transaction does not fit neatly within traditional bank lending criteria," he added.

HSAM Europe has invested in European real estate credit for more than a decade across senior lending and opportunistic financing. The firm said this allows it to assess borrowers, assets and business plans across the capital stack and structure senior loans accordingly.

Its target sectors include residential, purpose-built student accommodation, hospitality, logistics, industrial, self-storage, healthcare and offices.

The firm's geographic focus covers the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, France, the Nordics, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland.