LONDON-First it was Prudential. Now Wells Fargo & Co. has unveiled plans to expand its commercial real estate service offerings into the UK.

The lender sees the move as satisfying a two-fold strategy. First the European office can “better serve US-based clients working in the UK trenches. Secondly, the firm plans to go after UK-based clients.

Mike Marino, a 24-year industry veteran who headed Wells Fargo's commercial real estate institutional metro markets group in Southern California, will relocate to London in early February to head the UK office.

“With the current void in capital providers in the UK commercial real estate market, we see a tremendous opportunity to support our clients doing business in the UK and to expand the delivery of these services to both US and UK-based real estate companies,” says Chip Fedalen, head of Wells Fargo's CRE institutional and metro markets group. “Our relationship focus, coupled with our comprehensive real estate platform, makes Wells Fargo uniquely suited to deliver a full set of financial services and solutions to our clients and to help them succeed financially.”

Making the move with Marino and reporting to him will be Robert Maddox and Cullen Powell. Maddox and Powell will lead teams responsible for client development, underwriting and loan production in the UK. Maddox will also oversee the firm's legacy liquidating debt portfolio in Germany.