Lender Eyes $5 Billion in U.S. Mortgages, Pivoting From Canada
- Romspen charges 11% on loans to companies ‘in transition’
- Plans to tap institutional money with help of U.S. partner
Romsepn sees the bigger, more liquid U.S. commercial mortgage market as a more attractive option.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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Alternative lender Romspen Investment Corp. is in talks with U.S. institutional investors to raise as much as $5 billion to provide bridging mortgages on U.S. commercial and industrial properties.
The 53-year-old Toronto-based firm has a U.S. fund with $300 million and plans to boost that to as much as $5 billion over three-to-five years by wooing family offices, pension funds, foundations and the like, according to managing partner Mark Hilson, 62. Almost half the closely held company’s first C$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion) Canadian fund is also invested there.