Bentall Kennedy Merges With GreenOak Real Estate

Bentall  Kennedy and GreenOak Real Estate  (“GreenOak”)  have recently announced  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.

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.

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 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.

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

For more information, please visit www.bentallkennedy.com