SANTA MONICA, CA-Commercial real estate finance veteran Shlomi Ronen has launched Dekel Capital, a boutique real estate investment banking firm with offices in here and in Tel Aviv. The company's primary focus is on raising capital, both equity and debt, for a wide range of real estate transactions including development projects, acquisitions and recapitalizations throughout the US, according to a company announcement, which says that it is also facilitating off-market investment sales transaction as well as note and REO sales for its clients.

Dekel is raising in excess of $200 million of equity, mezzanine and debt on behalf of its clients. Its current assignments include raising $55 million in equity for three multifamily projects in California, a programmatic GP equity raise for a seasoned multifamily developer, and $14 million of mezzanine and bridge debt (90% LTC) for the acquisitions of a fractured condo project located in the Southeast.

Ronen was a co-founder of Los Angeles-based Lucent Capital and has 10 years of experience in the real estate capital advisory role, facilitating more than $2 billion in equity, mezzanine, and debt financing on behalf of investors and developers throughout the US. Before Lucent, he co-headed the Los Angeles office of the Carlton Group, a New York City-based real estate investment banking firm, and was a senior vice president at Los Angeles-based George Smith Partners.