In the Media
Aparna Sehgal Participates in Real Estate Capital Europe Alternative Lenders Roundtable Discussion
In the Media
June 2, 2025
Winston & Strawn partner Aparna Sehgal was featured in Real Estate Capital Europe’s Alternative Lenders roundtable. The participants discussed topics including the effects of widening spreads on back leverage arrangements, predictions for U.K. and European interest rates, how the widening of U.S. credit spreads will impact pricing and loan terms available from alternative lenders that are borrowing from U.S. banks, and the scope of growth for the European alternative real estate debt market.
Aparna noted that it is still too early to tell the full impact of recent events on European real estate markets. “The deals that are closing now probably weren’t committed to during Trump’s first 100 days in office. For a while, everyone was talking about ‘staying alive to 2025’ and so there was real momentum early this year,” she said. “People wanted to get going, and I think that’s still keeping the commercial real estate juggernaut moving to some extent.”
The European alternative real estate debt market has had a meteoric rise in recent years, but there remains considerable scope for growth, Aparna said, noting that she sees new entrants each year and growing interest in the sector. “If you look at the level of market penetration by private credit lending in the US, it is enormous. The UK market has also grown massively in the last 10-15 years and Europe is starting to properly pick up some momentum.”
She added that the sector has become much more diverse and experienced through the covid-19 pandemic and beyond, with many executives who gained experience working in the big banks joining debt funds. “They bring real sophistication to the underwriting, which leads to speed of execution, which is very compelling for borrowers.”
