Izilend to Spend €200M Financing Real Estate Projects in Spain

1 February 2019 – Expansión

Izilend has arrived in Spain with the launch of a vehicle, which has funding of up to €200 million to finance real estate projects in the country.

Since September, the alternative financing firm has already undertaken ten operations worth €20 million and it plans to finance operations amounting to €50 million during the course of this year.

Izilend, which has a presence in Portugal with a real estate crowdfunding platform, forms part of the holding company FS Capital Partners, which also includes a servicer, Fintech, Finsolutia and a financial advisory company (EAFI).

Izilend is thereby joining other alternative financing platforms specialising in the real estate sector that have made their debuts in Spain in recent months, such as Íbero Capital Management, from the US investment fund Oak Hill Advisors, and the firm promoted by Azora and Oquendo.

Focus

In the case of Izilend, the firm focuses on the financing of projects amounting to between €1 million and €10 million. To date, it has financed investors, property developers, cooperatives and Socimis for projects in Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla and the Balearic Islands. The financing fund intends to continue expanding the focus and to finance different types of assets ranging from housing, offices, retail and land in the main cities of Spain and Portugal.

Francisco Jonet, one of the people responsible for Izilend’s business in Spain, explains that the company offers a solution to property developers and real estate investors to develop projects that the traditional banks are not interested in either due to the type of product, the situation of the operation or the response times.

“To date, we have financed firms ranging from small property developers to Socimis, and products ranging from land to residential blocks, located in different provinces around the country”, said Jonet.

Gonzalo Gutiérrez de Mesa, the other person in charge of the fund, forecasts that the demand for alternative financing will double over the next five years and will thereby approach the market rates in more mature countries in Europe, where this type of financing accounts for between 30% and 40% of the total market. “We are creating a new niche in which we believe there is great potential”, adds Gutiérrez.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake