Patron revs up for CEE distress

Patron Capital has teamed up with London-based Revetas Capital to advise on distressed property deals in Central and Eastern Europe of up to €100 million.

Revealing news of the tie-up today, Revetas and Patron described their agreement as a ‘strategic relationship’ to help “unlock opportunities” through investments in distressed real estate held by CEE banks. Opportunities could arise not only to buy assets in CEE but also in Western Europe where a CEE bank held control of the asset.

In a statement, Patron founder Keith Breslauer said his firm looked forward to helping its new partner invest in the “distressed environment” in Central and Eastern Europe. He added: “And we are hopeful that the relationship will also help unlock potential opportunities in Western Europe held by the local banks.” As part of the agreement, Breslauer has joined Revetas’ advisory committee.

Revetas also said it was raising a fund with a hard cap of €250 million.

Revetas’ principals have previously been co-investment partner of Patron helping it to restructure and exit various investments. Revetas was started by Eric Assimakopoulos who has worked with some of the biggest names in private equity and private equity real estate including Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing with which he co-managed a technology–driven real estate fund managed with in 1999 called Metronexus. That business bought and developed more than $300 million of assets in the US and Europe.

In 2002 he led the acquisition several major sale-and-leaseback transactions with the Belgian ministry of finance and a KKR portfolio company called Tenovis. In 2008, following the financial crisis, he shifted focus restructuring and recapitalising distressed real estate and this tie-up is the latest development for the company.