NEW YORK CITY-Situs said Friday it had been selected by Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG as its loan servicing and asset management partner for its US portfolio of performing CRE loans. A legacy of Eurohypo's real estate lending business, the loan book covers approximately $2 billion backed by assets, mainly office, in the 20 largest US cities.

“We have been continuing to expand our asset management business over the past four years through a series of acquisitions and partnerships,” says Steve Powel, president of Situs. “The primary contributor to our success has been our flexibility to adapt to our clients' specific strategic objectives and the comprehensiveness of our professional services platform.”

Since Situs was acquired by Helios AMC in 2011, “assets under management have grown to more than $75 billion,” Powel continues. Helios AMC is owned by a joint venture of Deutsche Bank and Ranieri Partners. Hugo Raworth, managing director at Situs, adds, “This deal provides further endorsement for Situs' growing platform business, which is looking to continue its expansion in Europe.”

For Situs, the mandate from Hypothekenbank marks its third such assignment from a German bank. Last year its Situs Europe unit completed the transfer of DECO, Deutsche Bank's European CMBS loan servicing platform, and Situs also manages a portfolio of CRE loans from HSH Nordbank.

Last month, Situs Europe was also named primary and special servicer on the $955-million German Residential Funding 2013-2 Limited securitization. The new CMBS issuance was arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank and sponsored by Gagfah, a leading German multifamily company,

In July, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt inked a deal with Wells Fargo to sell the US-based bank its UK commercial loan portfolio. The transaction included a $6-billion portfolio of commercial loans comprised of high-quality institutional properties across the UK, with a focus in London. A portion of the portfolio, consisting of approximately $1.96 billion of non-performing assets, was to be acquired by Lone Star Funds, with Wells Fargo providing the financing.