Mercury appoints head of Asia investments

Greenwich, Connecticut-based real estate investment management company Mercury Partners has named Lawrence Sperling as its head of Asia private equity.

Prior to joining Mercury, Sperling was managing director and head of real estate transactions for Credit Suisse’ Asia Pacific Region based in Tokyo. During his fourteen years at Credit Suisse, Sperling was involved in more than $7.5 billion (€5.3 billion) of real estate-related transactions in the Asia Pacific region as well as approximately $15 billion in the US. Sperling worked in principal investing, lending and securitizations, according to the release. Prior to Credit Suisse, he was a vice president at Eastdil Realty.

“We are delighted that Larry has agreed to join Mercury at this exciting stage in the growth of our Asian business,” Malcolm MacLean, president of Mercury Partners, said in a statement. “His extensive experience on the ground in Asia will be invaluable in our ability to execute transactions in the region.”

David Jarvis, Mercury’s chief executive, added that the company had worked with Sperling over the past several years on a number of successful Asian real estate investments.

Sperling has a JD and MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Founded in 2000 by Jarvis and MacLean, Mercury has more than $2.2 billion of assets under management, including approximately $900 million of Asian property assets. Based in Connecticut, Mercury has offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beijing. The company targets investments in the commercial and residential sectors, with particular focus on the US and Asia.