A ninth vintage already largely deployed
Cheyne Capital, the London-based alternative asset manager, has announced the final close of Cheyne Real Estate Credit Holdings (CRECH) IX – Capital Solutions. The raise totals £3bn, or around €3.5bn, split between the commingled fund and several associated vehicles.
The fund was launched in 2024 with seed capital from a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund. It is already substantially invested: 73 loans have been originated, 16 of which have already been repaid, and more than 50% of investor capital has been called and deployed.
The loans are predominantly senior. They cover core, core-plus, value-add and development assets in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium. Sectors financed include hotels, offices, student housing, residential and mixed-use schemes.
One of Europe’s most active alternative lenders
Between 2023 and 2025, Cheyne lent more than €6bn. According to rankings published by PERE, this places it among the most active alternative lenders in Europe. The firm was founded in 2000 by Jonathan Lourie and Stuart Fiertz. Its CRECH programme has been running since 2011 and aims to fill the gap left by traditional banks’ retreat from real estate financing.
Ravi Stickney, Managing Partner and CIO Real Estate at Cheyne Capital, explained the rationale behind the raise. He said that demand for scalable, reliable real estate financing solutions in Europe had never been stronger, and that the urgency of that need could be seen in how quickly CRECH IX and its associated vehicles were being deployed. He added that European real estate debt markets had long suffered from an imbalance between supply and demand, and that a fresh retreat by capital providers was now under way in the current persistently inflationary and volatile environment.
In his view, investor support enables the firm to provide borrowers with the capital needed to create, reposition and retain essential productive assets, to rehabilitate and repurpose unproductive ones, and to recapitalise unsustainable capital structures.
Hospitality: a long-standing area of activity
Cheyne has been financing the hotel sector for many years. In 2018, it refinanced LOV Hotel Collection with a €155m senior loan. In 2021, its funds provided €93m of senior and mezzanine facilities to Perseus. The financing was used to fund the conversion of the Hôtel du Couvent in Nice and refinance Le Pigalle in Paris. The transaction also enabled Valéry Grégo to become majority shareholder of his group.
The lender subsequently moved into upscale leisure hospitality alongside KSL Capital Partners. In late 2022, it provided more than €200m to the Beaumier platform. In April 2024, it financed the acquisition of Sereno Hotels, owner of Il Sereno on Lake Como and Le Sereno in St Barths. In 2023, Cheyne also lent €62m to Samla Capital for the renovation of The Hotel Maria in Helsinki, followed in 2025 by €41m to Lone Star to transform the Hotel Metropole in Brussels.
In London, Cheyne provided a £525m senior loan in 2024 to Fattal Hotel Group to refinance four Leonardo and NYX hotels, with the participation of Migdal Insurance. According to the trade press, it was one of the largest hotel refinancings of the year. Cheyne is also Dominus’s partner on the 382-key five-star hotel project at 42-47 The Minories, in the City. This is their second collaboration, following the joint venture on the 65 Fleet Street student accommodation scheme.
Targeting large transactions
Stuart Fiertz, co-founder and President of Cheyne Capital, set out the strategy. He said the close of CRECH IX would allow the firm to remain focused on large transactions, where it faces less competition from other lenders, resulting in more attractive returns than in the more crowded mid-market segment. He added that it would also enable Cheyne to keep partnering with the most established and experienced borrowers, able to back its loans with significant equity in their prime assets.
Analysis – For European hotel owners and investors, this raise adds a significant source of financing at a time when banks remain cautious about operating assets. Other private debt funds are following the same logic, such as Blackstone with BREDS V. Cheyne is targeting large deals backed by well-capitalised sponsors, which should primarily benefit acquisitions, repositionings and refinancings by institutional hotel platforms.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Cheyne Capital closes CRECH IX at £3bn (c. €3.5bn)
Ninth vintage of Cheyne’s real estate lending programme, seeded in 2024 by a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund
73 loans across eight European countries, 16 already realised; over 50% of capital deployed
Mostly senior loans across hotel, office, student housing, residential and mixed-use assets
Over €6bn lent in 2023-2025; hotel track record includes Fattal, Sereno Hotels, Beaumier and Perseus
Strategy focused on large transactions with well-capitalised, established sponsors
