Is ING Returning to CRE Lending in the US?

NEW YORK CITY—It looks like the robust commercial real estate capital market is about to get just a little more robust, at least according to a news story in Real Estate Capital. It reports that ING Real Estate Finance is restarting its real estate lending operations and that it has tapped Craig Bender as managing director and head of the US team.

Bender is, according to his LinkedIn profile, senior vice president at BBVA Compass in New York City, a position he assumed in April 2013. Prior to that, he was with ING Real Estate Finance for close to a decade.

GlobeSt.com reached out to Bender but has not received a response. We also requested a comment from ING.

Whether the report is true will become apparent in the coming days. For now, let's assume that it is: it is an intriguing development that speaks volumes about the rapid return to health of the CRE capital markets – and of its future prospects.

As recently as 2013, ING Real Estate was still unwinding its US operations, a process it began in 2012 with the stated goal of wanting to focus on its core operations and markets. In what was seen as a huge coup for Wells Fargo, ING Real Estate sold about half of its US loan portfolio, which had a total outstanding balance of $1.6 billion, to the bank.

Of course, that particular context -- ING has invested much effort in disposing of its US lending operations over the past few years -- does give rise to the question why the bank would do a turnaround.

One likely answer is the flourishing capital markets, which have made remarkable progress over the last few years. CMBS originations are widely expected to top $100 billion this year. Meanwhile other lenders, such as life companies, banks and even alternative platforms, are firing on all cylinders as well. The reasons behind these trends are obvious: "The economy is flush with capital because of the low interest rate environment and strengthening fundamentals," CREFC CEO Stephen Renna told GlobeSt.com in an earlier interview.

Another reason for ING's presumptive re-entrance into the US lending market is that, simply put, it is very good at what it does. In Europe, where its lending operations have remained in force, the bank was named top 2014 bookrunner in the first European real estate finance league tables since the global financial crisis. The table survey was compiled by Dealogic on behalf of 26 lenders, covering 150 deals worth $50 billion in 2014.

ING Real Estate Finance was first in the top 10 bookrunners ranking, with 14 deals worth $2.7 billion, for a 14.1% market share.