MaxCap adds equity to its debt offerings

“We are operating in a global capital market,” MaxCap managing director Wayne Lasky said. Even so, there were no rules about whether the capital would come from onshore or offshore investors, he said. “That is going to be fairly evenly represented by both domestic and offshore investors,” Mr Lasky said.

Other equity investments include a partnership with developer ICD on Melbourne residential development Aspire, due to begin construction this year, and a luxury car dealership with an unidentified partner in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on a site with a 15-year lease.

The decision to expand into equity investment came after actively deciding not too earlier, Mr Lasky said. “We deliberately have avoided or declined to participate in equity investments several years ago. We felt that the returns weren’t commensurate with the risk and there was an overweight level of capital investment,” Mr Lasky said. “But there’s been a huge retreat of capital from equity that wants to deploy into debt and there was a vacuum and a real opportunity to capitalise on a very selective basis across all asset classes. This isn’t residential-development focused, it’s across all real estate classes.”