LONDON—Situs said Wednesday it had acquired Hatfield Philips International, expanding its capacity in performing and non-performing debt across Europe. The seller was mortgage REIT Starwood Property Trust (STWD), which acquired the non-performing loan and CMBS special servicer as part of its 2013 deal for LNR Property LLC. Terms were not disclosed.

As part of the transaction, STWD will retain a non-controlling minority interest in Situs. “The European market is a dynamic and exciting place for debt servicers currently as banks continue to deleverage their balance sheets amidst regulatory pressure, and new market entrants rush to deploy equity and debt products into Europe,” says Situs CEO Steve Powel. “The acquisition of HPI is another milestone in our ongoing European expansion, and expands our professional capabilities in the performing and non-performing debt space now across 16 European jurisdictions.” The acquisition expands Situs' loan servicing and NPL platform to US$160 billion in assets under management globally.

In STWD's third-quarter earnings call Wednesday, chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht acknowledged, “Our business never really exploded in Europe.” The REIT could have sold HPI for cash, he said, but chose to retain a minority stake because it anticipates growth in the platform under its new ownership.

For its part, Situs has continually expanded its professional service solutions both domestically and in Europe. In Europe specifically, Situs in 2009 acquired Merrill Lynch and Ocwen's NPL special servicing business HQ in Germany, and Situs created a joint venture with HSH Nord Bank to manage over $3.5 billion of commercial real estate loans in the Nordics two years later. 2012 saw Situs acquire Deutsche Bank's pan-European loan servicing and asset management business.