PERE Global Awards: Who shone the brightest in 2017?

As 2017 draws to a close, it is once more time to honor the private real estate firms and professionals that made their mark on the market this year.

This was a year of uncertainty with geopolitical concerns surrounding Brexit in Europe, President Donald Trump’s policies in the US, North Korea’s military escalation in Asia and other matters never far from the conversation. The private real estate industry, however, has plowed on and has much to rejoice, with some of the biggest M&A deals and blockbuster fundraising efforts happening in the last 12 months.

After much deliberation, we have compiled the final list of nominations for the 12th PERE Global Awards. The shortlist has been created following a lengthy process involving PERE editorial and senior staff from parent company PEI Media pouring over nomination submissions, research collated for different categories and consultations with industry leaders.

Included in the 44 award categories are some new names as well as the perennial nominees who make the cut year after year. This is the first time the global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, for instance, has clinched two nominations in Asia, thanks to its buyout of Singapore manager ARA Asset Management and the highly contested bid for logistics firm Global Logistic Properties.

No surprises that sector giant Blackstone has been nominated in 10 categories this year, the highest for any firm, on the back of its record fundraises both in Europe and Asia, as well as its €12.25 billion sale of Logicor to China Investment Corporation. However, both Brookfield and GLP are formidable competitors in many categories, including firm of the year, which was clinched by Blackstone in 2016.

Brookfield has made some record exits this year, including the sale of IDI Gazeley to GLP and 245 Park Avenue to HNA Group, making Brian Kingston a worthy contender for the industry figure of the year, alongside industry titans like Blackstone’s John Gray, Allianz’s Francois Trausch and GIC’s Goh Kok Huat.

Meanwhile, nominations for the global institutional investor category include only one Asian investor this year – Singaporean state fund GIC for its mega acquisitions across Asia, including developing markets like India and Indonesia, as well as the US. The German insurer Allianz’s acquisitive strategy this year, especially in Asia, has also helped it be nominated in both global and Asia institutional investor categories.

Each of the three regions have seen record fundraising hauls this year. Overall, PERE estimates 207 closed-end private real estate funds raised capital via interim or final closes as of December 5, totaling $110.4 billion. Notable nominees include Starwood’s $7.3 billion fundraise for its 11th distressed opportunity fund; Carlyle’s $4 billion capital raise for its US strategy; Kildare Partners’ $1.95 billion haul for its second European vehicle and PAG’s $1.9 billion closing of its seventh Asia opportunistic fund.

Across all categories, logistics has been one of the most active sectors, in terms of the overwhelming size of deals. For the deal of the year in Europe, GLP’s purchase of Gazeley and Blackstone’s sale of Logicor are in contention, while in Asia it is GLP’s high-profile privatization. It is also interesting that both Skadden and Morrison & Foerster are battling it out for the law firm of the year, transactions, being advisors on either side of the GLP deal.

Those are a mere taste of the numerous battles for accolades contained within these nominations.

Here are the rules for voting: You may only vote once per category, and you may not vote for yourself or your own firm. You are not required to vote in all categories – simply vote in those that are of interest to you. All votes will be confidential.

The polls close on midnight on Monday, 8 January, and the results will be revealed in March.

So, without further ado, click here to learn who was nominated and, more importantly, to cast your votes to decide who emerges victorious.