Barings Real Estate Advisers Completes Acquisition of ACRE Capital Holdings LLC

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 03, 2016 -- Barings Real Estate Advisers, formerly known as Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, one of the world’s largest real estate-focused investment managers, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of ACRE Capital Holdings LLC, the parent company of ACRE Capital LLC (“ACRE Capital”), the agency lending subsidiary of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE). The ACRE Capital platform will be renamed as Barings Multifamily Capital and will be a subsidiary to Barings Real Estate Advisers. The transaction, valued at $93 million, was previously announced on June 29, 2016.

“The acquisition of Barings Multifamily Capital is a demonstration of Barings’ ability to source not only direct real estate investments but also attractive real estate operating company investments for our clients.  The array of capital solutions that we can provide within the multifamily and healthcare sectors positions us very well to allocate capital up and down the capital stack and grow the coverage and expertise in an important property sector for Barings Real Estate Advisers,” stated Scott Brown, Global Head of Real Estate at Barings.

Barings Multifamily Capital originates and services multifamily, senior housing and healthcare facility loans by utilizing programs overseen by governmental agencies and government-sponsored entities.  The platform, which is highly complementary to the Barings Real Estate Advisers other origination and investment organizations, is one of only 19 lenders that hold licenses with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

Barings Multifamily Capital will report into Jamie Henderson, Head of Structured Real Estate Investments at Barings Real Estate Advisers. He commented: “Barings has a bullish stance regarding the real estate fundamentals of both the multifamily and healthcare sectors due to a variety of structural and demographic factors.  The addition of Barings Multifamily Capital broadens our reach into these important sectors.”

About Barings:

Barings is a $275+billion* global asset management firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients. We build lasting partnerships that leverage our distinctive expertise across traditional and alternative asset classes to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional service. A member of the MassMutual Financial Group, Barings maintains a strong global presence with over 600 investment professionals and offices in 17 countries. Barings Real Estate Advisers is the real estate investment unit of Barings LLC. Learn more, at www.barings.com.

*As of June 30, 2016.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation:

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation is a specialty finance company primarily engaged in originating and investing in commercial real estate loans and related investments. Through its national direct origination platform, the company provides a broad offering of flexible and reliable financing solutions for commercial real estate owners and operators. The company originates senior mortgage loans as well as subordinate financings, mezzanine debt and preferred stock with an emphasis on providing value added financing on a variety of properties located in liquid markets across the United States.  Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation elected and qualified to be taxed as a real estate investment trust and is externally managed by a subsidiary of Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE:ARES), a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $95 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2016. For more information, please visit www.arescre.com. The contents of such website are not, and should not be deemed to be, incorporated by reference herein.

For more information, contact:

FTI Consulting
Raina Gajjar
[email protected] / +1-212-850-5724

Barings
Brian Whelan, Head of Corporate Communications
[email protected] / +1-980-417-7700