NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The management team of Brightstone Capital Partners and Vanke today announced Brightstone’s formation as a global real estate investment management platform. Vanke, a founding partner in Brightstone, is one of the world’s largest real estate development and services companies. Brightstone is a key extension of Vanke’s investment strategy and marks the firm’s launch of a global real estate asset management initiative. Brightstone is based in New York and is led by its other founding partners, U.S. real estate executives Dennis Irvin, Douglas Lee and John Rivard.
Brightstone’s platform combines the focus and flexibility of a large-scale direct investor with the efficiency and resources of an asset manager. Capital commitments from the firm’s founding partners are used to pursue real estate investments across the return spectrum in high-quality assets in major markets globally. Utilizing Brightstone’s balance sheet to warehouse investments provides ready access to assets for third-party investors as well as speed and certainty to sellers and other counterparties. This model accommodates a wide range of property types, deal structures and hold periods and addresses investor requirements for transparency and alignment of interests.
Brightstone Founding Partners: Vanke, Irvin, Lee, Rivard
Vanke
Founded in 1984, China Vanke Co., Ltd. is publicly listed on both Shenzhen and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and has maintained one of the highest credit ratings in the industry (Baa1/BBB+). Vanke is one of the largest real estate development and services companies globally, with annual revenue of RMB 184 billion and a gross profit margin of 21% in 2015. It currently conducts residential development and commercial real estate businesses across more than 65 cities in mainland China as well as in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, San Francisco and London. In addition to its core development and management business, Vanke also runs China’s largest property services company, with 215 million square meters of area under management. Its U.S. subsidiary, Vanke Holdings USA, is based in New York, with a branch office in San Francisco. For more information, please visit http://www.vanke.com/en/.
Mr. Yu Liang, President of China Vanke Co., Ltd., commented: “The domestic real estate market in China has transitioned from the high growth “golden era” to a “silver era,” where Vanke is actively transforming itself as well. Globalization is one of our long-term growth strategies. The founding of the Brightstone investment management platform will help strengthen Vanke’s overseas investment position, assist the company in better leveraging its global resources, and enhance our profitability.”
Dennis Irvin
Dennis Irvin has an extensive 30-year background in commercial real estate investment management, investment banking and advisory services for both public and private clients. Prior to founding Brightstone with Vanke, Mr. Irvin was the President and CEO of Rockefeller Group Investment Management. Prior to The Rockefeller Group, Mr. Irvin served in leadership and advisory roles with CIT Group, Cushman & Wakefield, J.P. Morgan Securities and LaSalle Partners. Mr. Irvin received a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Chicago.
“Vanke is the ideal partner with whom to launch an investment management platform,” stated Dennis Irvin, Managing Director of Brightstone Capital Partners. “The combination of Vanke’s real estate development expertise, Brightstone’s investment and management capabilities and our significant capital commitment will enable us to generate a wider range of strategic options for investors, while providing transparency and alignment of interests.”
Douglas Lee
Douglas Lee has more than 25 years of experience in real estate, finance and private equity. Prior to founding Brightstone with Vanke, Mr. Lee served as a Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets and Member of the Investment Committee for Metropolitan Real Estate, a $3.2 billion investment management firm. Prior to joining Metropolitan, Mr. Lee held leadership and advisory roles at UBS Investment Bank and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Lee received a B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
“We will deploy capital strategically,” said Douglas Lee, Managing Director of Brightstone Capital Partners. “Our initial capital commitments give us the capacity and flexibility to source a wide range of opportunities, including direct property transactions, joint ventures and entity-level investments for both Brightstone and our investment partners.”
John Rivard
John Rivard has over 30 years of U.S. and international real estate investment experience. Prior to founding Brightstone with Vanke, Mr. Rivard served as Senior Vice President, Managing Director and Head of Acquisitions and Investments for Rockefeller Group Investment Management. Prior to this position, Mr. Rivard served in leadership and investment roles for Broadway Partners, O’Connor Capital Partners and the California State Teachers Retirement System. Mr. Rivard received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
“Brightstone’s strategy is to invest in high quality real estate assets,” said John Rivard, Managing Director of Brightstone Capital Partners. “We will pursue a range of investment strategies, tailoring our risk-adjusted return targets to deal-specific factors as well as overall market conditions and investor requirements.”
About Brightstone Capital Partners
Headquartered in New York, Brightstone Capital Partners is a global commercial real estate investment management platform established in partnership with Vanke, one of the world’s largest real estate development and services companies. Financial commitments from the firm’s founding partners enable Brightstone to create investment solutions with flexible, transparent structures and ownership that is aligned with investors. Brightstone Capital Partners is the sole owner and corporate parent of Brightstone Investment Advisors, an SEC registered investment adviser.* For more information, please visit www.brightstonecap.com.
* Any reference to Brightstone as an SEC registered investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
