LONDON-The locally based debt team of Prudential Real Estate Investors, a division of Newark, NJ-based Prudential Financial Inc., has completed an $810 million fund to provide financing for commercial property transactions. The investment in the closed-end Pramerica Real Estate Capital One fund will primarily focus on assets in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The investment has come from global institutions, including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds from North America, Europe, the UK and the Middle East. Andrew Raddkiewicz, managing director and co-manager of the fund, said that opportunities exist as a result of the ongoing lending gap. There’s a demand for alternative sources of funding amid the scarce sources of financing in the European market, he said in a statement.

In a recent company report, PREI estimated that almost $1 trillion of European commercial property loans made by banks and other financial institutions will require refinancing within two years. PREI’s report predicts that this trend could produce a funding gap of $26 billion in Europe this year, $40 billion in 2012 and $60 billion in 2013.