Cash Is Key: Business Restructuring & Loan Negotiations

Lesley joined Seaforth Land, the London-focused commercial real estate investor and asset manager, as Chief Investment Officer in September 2019 to grow the company’s highly specialised fiduciary operating platform. She has worked on real estate transactions across Europe and North America, and has a wealth of financing experience across a diverse range of sectors including office, retail, residential and alternatives. Prior to Seaforth Land, Lesley spent 14 years at Delancey as Director of Banking and Treasure and as a member of the company’s Steering Committee. She had oversight of all third-party financing and banking relationships, and sourced approximately £3 billion of new financing for Delancey clients and partners from 2014 to 2019. Lesley started her career in the real estate private equity group of Deutsche Bank in New York where she first met her colleagues Tyler Goodwin, founder and chief executive officer, and Kurt Roeloffs, chairperson, around 20 years ago. She left in 2002 to pursue the next phase of her career. An active participant in the UK real estate industry, Lesley was a member of the UK Government’s Build to Rent Joint Committee and CREFC Europe’s Build to Rent Finance Initiative Committee. She is currently a Council Member of Cranfield University where she sits on the Finance Committee and the Nominations Committee in addition to the main council.

Jim is a Partner of GreenOak, based in London. Jim has oversight responsibility for the firm’s European fixed income strategies. The GreenOak European debt team manages over $1.9 billion of capital from institutional investors and is an active lender for commercial real estate properties located in the UK and across Western Europe. Jim was previously European Head of Lehman Brothers Global Real Estate Group for EMEA. In this role, Jim oversaw Lehman Brothers European on-balance sheet real estate activities including commercial mortgage and mezzanine lending. At Lehman Brothers, Jim served on its European Operating Committee, European Fixed Income Executive Committee as well as its Global Fixed Income Operating Committee. Prior to coming to London, Jim worked at Lehman Brothers in New York where he originated and structured mortgage loans and CMBS transactions. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Jim was an attorney at Thacher Proffitt and Wood (New York) where he practiced real estate and securities law. Jim is a Trustee of the Prince’s Regeneration Trust. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council. Jim is a leader and supporter of a number of London based charities and community groups. Jim is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Lewis and Clark College.

Damian is a restructuring specialist focusing on advising real estate businesses and their stakeholders on their available options to preserve and enhance value. This ranges from debt advisory assignments, accelerated acquisitions and disposals and strategic options analysis. His prior corporate finance experience coupled with his restructuring skills assists Damian in providing innovative solutions to complex assignments. Damian has strong relations with a range of equity and debt funds and he has a unique understanding of the alternative finance market. Consequently, he has recently completed a number of complex restructuring assignments in which these non-traditional funders have been utilised to ensure the successful completion of the restructuring