"Despite this period of retrenchment and consolidation in the US financial arena, we have been able to take our Dresdner Bank Real Estate practice and integrate it into a new and powerful entity dedicated to the real estate sector," states Johannes Boeckmann, general manager of Eurohypo North America.

Through the merger, Eurohypo acquired Dresdner's entire real estate business in the US, including operations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. According to Boeckmann, "the team was an active player during 2002, acting as sole arranger and administrative agent for a series of prominent syndications totaling approximately $1.6 billion." According to one insider, expectations are for the operation to "at least" match that figure this year as it preps for "careful growth." That, he adds, will come through the addition of an unspecified number of team members to all three locations. A part of those additions will be focused on a new CMBS initiative.

The US push is being driven in large part by changes in German banking legislation, according to the source. There have been, "tax changes with respect to deconsolidation," he says. "A number of changes in the German landscape have prompted these three banks to merge their subsidiaries. As most foreign investors realize, the US is a strategic platform for business. The net result was that Eurohypo saw a serious opportunity to create a major presence in New York."

The enhancements to what was once Dresdner's piece of the US pie are expected to position Eurohypo to provide financing throughout a project's life cycle, including acquisition, construction, interim bridge and permanent financing. The bank plans to go deeper into the debt-capital structure (from senior secured financing to mezzanine debt) and maintain its role in providing financing to major public and private REITs and REOCs on both a secured and unsecured basis.