James Esterkin

James is a Partner in the Real Estate Finance practice in Simpson Thacher’s London office. He advises private funds and other top-tier investors and operators on the financing of their U.K. and European real estate and related investments. 

James specializes in complex cross-border real estate acquisition and development financing, non-performing loan financings and the restructuring of real estate related secured debt.

James’s recent work highlights include:

• Blackstone on the financing and refinancing of a €250m portfolio of logistics properties located across Spain and Portugal
• TDR Capital on the £638m senior/mezzanine refinancing of 1,000 pubs owned and operated by Stonegate Group (the UK’s largest pub owner/operator)
• Bain Capital Credit on the refinancing of its acquisition of a €1.4bn portfolio of non-performing loans in Greece from Piraeus Bank
• HIP on the amendment and extension of its €1.6bn financing of a portfolio of 43 hotels in Spain and the Canary Islands
• A global fund on the refinancing of 2,000 Dutch residential units
• Blackstone on the senior and mezzanine refinancing of a €400m portfolio of logistics properties in France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Spain
• Kereby (a Blackstone portfolio company) on the DKK 6.8bn senior mortgage bond and mezzanine financing of a Danish residential real estate portfolio
• Blackstone on the €130m refinancing of two Dutch offices
• An aparthotel operator on the acquisition and development financing of a central London high-end aparthotel
• Bain Capital Credit on the refinancing of a Greek leasing company and a (GBV €500m) portfolio of non-performing exposures secured against commercial real estate and hotels
• Blackstone on the financing of its €150m acquisition of a high-end retail property in Paris
• Blackstone on the refinancing of a €210m portfolio of Italian last-mile logistics properties

James’s experience prior to joining Simpson Thacher includes:

• Bain Capital Credit on the financing of the acquisition of a €700 million portfolio of Spanish NPLs and properties from Kutxabank; and the staged acquisition of a portfolio of residential and commercial properties in Italy from Intesa (formerly forming part of Intesa’s non-performing loan book)
• GIC on the acquisition financing of a 30-asset portfolio of Irish logistics assets in the context of GIC’s partnership with Exeter Property Group; the acquisition financing of a 1900 unit €300m residential property portfolio in Finland in partnership with Orange Capital Partners; and the refinancing of a portfolio of purpose-built student accommodate assets in London in partnership with Unite
• Eagle Street Partners on the formation of a joint venture with Harrison Street to acquire and develop a 554-residential-unit multiphase development at East Road in Dublin, Ireland 
• Brookfield on the financing of its bid to acquire the £4 billion+ iQ student accommodation portfolio; on its €1.089 billion recommended cash offer for Hibernia REIT; and its £3 billion consortium approach for Intu plc
• GLP on the financing of its c.€2.4 billion acquisition of European logistics business IDI Gazeley from Brookfield; the financings of new build logistics assets in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain; and the financing of its c.€1 billion acquisition of Goodman Group’s CEE logistics portfolio
• Brookfield on the acquisition of edyn (formerly Saco) from Oaktree, a premier serviced apartment group, and subsequent representation of edyn in relation to the acquisition and development financing of properties in the U.K. and Europe