GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Pacific Security Capital Lands Major Assignment

PORTLAND, OR-The locally headquartered investment bank Pacific Security Capital will be the exclusive placement agent for an Irish investment bank that has raised EUR$300 million for a fund that will invest in US real estate. With leverage, the closed-end fund will have about EUR$1 billion (US$ 1.34 billion) for acquiring, lending or investing in the four real estate food groups, office, industrial, retail and (for-sale) residential.Pacific Securities’ executive managing director Mike Myatt tells GlobeSt.com this is the first Irish fund that has been put together for investment in US real estate. “The Irish economy has been so strong in the last decade, there is just a lot of wealth that has been created,” says Myatt, who declined to name his client or the equity and debt participants at this time. “The equity is institutional dollars, primarily from Ireland.”Placement of the funds will begin toward the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter, says Myatt. “It all depends on how long it takes to find the right opportunity,” he says. “Right now it’s very much a seller’s market; it’s difficult to acquire properties that are priced appropriately, at least when dealing with institutional-level properties.”The fund’s investments will be concentrated in first- and second-tier markets. “We’re focusing on deals where we can manage risk and get the type of pop that will continue to attract these types of dollars,” says Myatt. “We will look at a lot of repositioning plays as well as stable, trophy assets.”Not big on the local radar screen, Pacific Security is well-known nationally and internationally with a management portfolio “in the several billions of dollars,” says Myatt. The company provides loans, structured finance and advisory services. It has offices in Newport Beach, New York, Chicago, Houston and Seattle. Earlier this year, the company relocated and expanded its corporate headquarters to accommodate a 40% growth in its origination staff in response to 100% year-over-year growth in its origination volume.