Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak Real Estate announce merger to form Bentall GreenOak, global real estate investment platform

          Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak Real Estate ("GreenOak") announced today the signing of an agreement to merge the two firms into a leading global real estate investment platform. The combined entity will be named Bentall GreenOak.

          GreenOak Co-Founders, John Carrafiell and Sonny Kalsi, existing GreenOak senior management and GreenOak's strategic partner Tetragon Financial Group Limited will all continue to hold significant ownership stakes in Bentall GreenOak. Bentall Kennedy's senior management team will also acquire a meaningful ownership position in the combined firm.

          Bentall GreenOak will be majority-owned by Sun Life Financial ("Sun Life") and will operate under Sun Life Investment Management, the alternative asset management arm of Sun Life. Sun Life has committed significant co-investment capital to support the growth of Bentall GreenOak and to enhance the firm's alignment with its clients.

          Senior management of the combined firm will include leaders from both Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak, and will be led globally by Gary Whitelaw, as CEO, and Sonny Kalsi, as President. John Carrafiell will be Senior Managing Partner of the Bentall GreenOak UK/European business.

          Bentall GreenOak will provide its clients with a broad range of complementary real estate investment strategies that include Core, Core Plus and Value Add/Opportunistic equity, as well as senior and tactical real estate debt strategies. With investment professionals in 14 offices in North America, and 7 offices internationally, Bentall GreenOak will have deep local knowledge and strong, long-standing investment track records across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

          "This combination brings together two successful real estate platforms to create a world class investment manager, supported by the significant resources and long-term stability of Sun Life Investment Management. GreenOak and Bentall Kennedy are two highly complementary firms with virtually no overlap in investment strategies or offices", said Gary Whitelaw, CEO, Bentall Kennedy. "As members of the combined leadership team have worked together before, and given our extensive discussions over many months, we believe we share very similar investment practices, underwriting discipline, and client-centric cultures," Mr. Whitelaw continued.

          "The mission critical element in any combination is ensuring that the leadership team and the teams directly managing the investment programs and assets on the ground are able to remain focused on creating value and managing risk", added Messrs. Carrafiell and Kalsi, Co-Founders of GreenOak Real Estate. "This combination of like-minded and compatible firms uniquely allows us to do that – with our clients and fund investors working with the same local specialists with whom they have been working for many years."

          "Institutional real estate investment strategies increasingly benefit from a truly global framework. But being successful requires deep local knowledge, a rigorous underwriting culture and strong alignment between investors and the manager," said Steve Peacher, President, Sun Life Investment Management. "Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak each bring this knowledge, disciplined experience and a fiduciary culture to the new combined firm. Sun Life Investment Management is committed to deepening Bentall GreenOak's client/manager alignment by making strategic co-investments in future Bentall GreenOak funds and other initiatives in partnership with Bentall GreenOak's clients and partners", Mr. Peacher added.

          As of September 30, 2018, Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak have, in the aggregate, over 700 institutional clients with approximately $47 billion USD / $62 billion CAD in assets under management. Sun Life will have contractual rights to increase its ownership interest in Bentall GreenOak in 2026, though it is expected that a meaningful interest will continue to be held by the Bentall GreenOak management team on an ongoing basis.

          Bentall Kennedy and Sun Life Investment Management received financial advice on the transaction from Berkshire Global Advisors and legal advice from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Evercore provided financial advice to GreenOak and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Covington & Burling LLP provided legal advice to GreenOak and its owners.

          The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019.