Larry Kravetz and Frank Gilhool

Restarting a lending platform at a time when the market changes on a daily basis and cutthroat competition loiters around every corner, is not for the faint of heart. But Larry Kravetz and Frank Gilhool don’t scare easily; in fact they’ve run to the challenge full throttle — and their approach is already paying dividends. 

SASB CMBS? You got  it. Conduit CMBS? Comin’ right up. Balance sheet loans? Just say “the Ben.” Warehouse facilities?  Oh, only to the tune of a mere $1 billion (and counting). 

First, a timeline. The platform launched just seven months ago, and Nomura closed its first balance sheet loan on Dec. 30. By Jan. 9, it had priced and funded its first SASB deal as sole bookrunner. That same month, it closed roughly $300 million in financing for the collapse of a 2021-vintage CRE CLO on behalf of a mortgage REIT. In February, it was awarded three new SASB assignments (one left lead and two right leads), and in March, it sealed a $150 million loan for Related Ross’ acquisition and repositioning of the Ben hotel in West Palm Beach, simultaneously closing a $23 million mezzanine loan and selling the position. Today, Nomura is actively closing conduit loans and will contribute to both five- and 10-year conduit deals in the second quarter.

“The Ben was a high-profile deal,” Kravetz said. “Even though we’re a team that’s worked together for a long time, it’s a new platform and they put their faith in us. It wasn’t a straightforward deal in that there’s a pretty healthy renovation plan, but we successfully closed it.”

Kravetz and Gilhool arrived at Nomura with an ambitious agenda yet find themselves either on, or ahead of, schedule.

“A big highlight for us is, just last week, we crossed $1 billion outstanding on warehouse [facilities],” Kravetz said. “There’s a little bit of legacy in that, but it’s an impressive milestone.”  

“What’s been great about all of this is the reception from the market,” Gilhool said. “It’s been phenomenal. The Nomura platform was so well positioned to bring us in, given all the expertise they had around securitized products and the reach they had, and bringing this piece of the puzzle really resonated with clients. We did have an aggressive business plan, and I did have a billion dollars in warehousing projected for this quarter, but I’m still pinching myself.” 

Further, five warehousing facilities are already up and running, but Nomura has nine facilities in various stages of documentation and term sheet negotiations. “It really has been fun,” Gilhool said. 

Next up, readying the Nomura CMBS shelf for blastoff. Kravetz expects it to be up and running this quarter. (Editor’s note: Do these guys sleep?!)

But there’s no taking the foot off the gas yet. 

“We’re a Japanese firm, so we have a March 31 fiscal year,” Kravetz said during the interview, on March 31. “This is our first time going through it, and today’s the last day of this fiscal year. So I told the team the pressure is really on starting tomorrow morning.”