Newmark Arranges $200 Million Shariah-Compliant Medical Office Portfolio Financing for Joint Venture Between Big Sky and Bahrain-Based GFH

NEW YORK, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Newmark announces it has arranged $200 million of Shariah-compliant financing for a medical office building portfolio on behalf of a joint venture between Dallas, Texas-based Big Sky Medical ("Big Sky") and GFH, a leading institutional investor based in Bahrain with a global portfolio of investments. Earlier this year, Newmark assisted in arranging the joint venture, which was seeded by a $400+ million medical office portfolio aggregated by Big Sky over the past 12 months. The portfolio financing was led by a U.S.-based financial institution.

National healthcare real estate platform Big Sky was founded in 2020 by industry veteran Jason L. Signor, who spent the last 18 years acquiring and developing medical office buildings and senior housing facilities in 19 states across the country. 

"This portfolio financing represents an important milestone in the growth and continued success of the Big Sky and GFH joint venture, as we continue to aggregate best-in-class medical office and outpatient healthcare assets," said Signor.

The transaction includes a component for future acquisition financing, which will allow the venture to continue its acquisition strategy under similar terms.

Nael Mustafa Chief Investment Officer, Real Estate of GFH said, "We are pleased to continue to grow our healthcare real estate platform alongside Big Sky, who complements our own global investment capabilities with deep knowledge of the U.S. healthcare market. With this financing, we are well placed to make additional strategic acquisitions in this space and bring unique assets to our investors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the U.S. healthcare sector continues its strong performance and delivers opportunities for further value-creation."

Newmark Senior Managing Director John Nero, Executive Managing Director Ben Appel and Senior Managing Directors Jay Miele and Michael Greeley of Newmark's Healthcare Capital Markets group, and Vice Chairman Alex Foshay and Executive Managing Director Joseph Morris of Newmark's International Capital Markets group acted as sole financial advisors to the Joint Venture.

"We are pleased to assist Big Sky and GFH in this important portfolio financing transaction, which received strong interest from the markets. The transaction is a good indication that the market remains quite competitive for well-curated healthcare portfolios with experienced sponsorship, high-quality collateral and strong healthcare provider tenancy," said Nero. "We appreciate the opportunity to continue advising Big Sky and GFH and are excited to see the continued growth of the venture since its formation less than one year ago," added Appel.

The portfolio comprises 13 outpatient medical office buildings and healthcare facilities totaling over 714,000 square feet, located across seven U.S. states. The portfolio features characteristics of strong WALT and high occupancy by leading healthcare providers, including Children's Wisconsin, Beaumont Health, Texas Health Resources, UPMC and Women's Care Florida.

Big Sky Medical Real Estate is an investment manager focused on commercial real estate across the United States with an overweight focus on the medical office sector.  Big Sky was formed in 2020 to exclusively invest in healthcare and life science real estate.  Big Sky leverages its deep relationships built over the past two decades as a sector specialist to position its platform as a flexible source of capital for developers, healthcare operators and investors of high quality medical real estate without competing conflicts of interest. To learn more, visit bigskymed.com.

GFH is one of the most recognized financial groups in the Gulf region. Its businesses include Asset Management, Wealth Management, Commercial Banking and Real Estate Development. The Group's operations are focused in the GCC, and the US. GFH is listed in Bahrain Bourse, Boursa Kuwait, Dubai Financial Market, and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. For more information, please visit www.gfh.com

Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries ("Newmark"), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark's comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform's global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues of nearly $3.1 billion for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022. Newmark's company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 6,300 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.

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