Jones Lang LaSalle forms investment banking group

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 15, 2003

In a strategic move to enhance its global capital markets service platform and to strengthen its growing capital markets presence in North America, Jones Lang LaSalle announced that it has formed a U.S. Real Estate Investment Banking group to be headed by Bart Steinfeld and Randall Zisler. Formerly principals and co-founders of Apogee Associates, LLC, both Steinfeld and Zisler will serve as managing directors and co-heads of the new group that will focus on raising equity and debt for public and private real estate developers and owners. They will be based in New York City and will be part of a capital markets group that operates throughout North America.

"Providing comprehensive capital markets solutions for our clients is a top priority for Jones Lang LaSalle." commented Earl Webb, chief executive officer of the capital markets group in the Americas. "This team's valuable experience working not only with developers and owners but also with a variety of global capital sources is a real strategic advantage for our clients. With their leadership, this new real estate investment banking group will expand and complement our already solid U.S. Capital Markets platform of investment sales, debt and corporate finance services."

In 1995, Steinfeld and Zisler founded Apogee Associates, LLC, a New York-based real estate investment banking firm that has specialized in raising equity and debt for real estate operating companies through institutional joint ventures. In the last 18 months alone, the principals have assisted clients in structuring over $1.3 billion in joint venture programs for public and private real estate developers and owners. Prior to forming Apogee, the principals executed over $6 billion of real estate financing during their tenure in senior management positions at Goldman Sachs, CS First Boston, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Nomura Securities.

"There is a long list of public and private companies that have access to multiple real estate investment opportunities, but these companies are often capital constrained in the current environment. We believe there is a current window of opportunity to help these clients position themselves for sustained growth as the economy improves," said Steinfeld. "The ability to offer Jones Lang LaSalle's whole platform of Capital Markets and Investor/Occupier services is a real benefit to our clients and we are very excited to be part of this firm," commented Zisler.