Spanish and Italian Speaking Real Estate Investment Bankers Sought

We are interested in hiring several senior real estate finance executives who are highly experienced in providing equity, debt and or restructuring services to large property owners and financial institutions.  Individuals should have a strong investment banking deal history with significant relationships in Spain and Italy.

Our European business is excellent and we are presently executing a multi-billion dollar pipeline of large commercial finance and distressed debt transactions.  In order to serve our clients even better we are interested in hiring several additional highly talented, local professionals to work with our existing team of professionals in Madrid and Rome.  We also provide sophisticated valuation and disposition services to financial institutions and are looking for individuals who have experience in these areas as well.

Please reply in confidence to the undersigned.  Excellent compensation with bonus and profit incentives.  Thank you.

Please fax cover letter and resume in confidence to 212-661-1295 or email it to jrosner@carltongroup.com and hlm@carltongroup.com

Carlton Madrid Hiring Banking and Finance Real Estate Executives

We are interested in talking and meeting with you about joining the Carlton Madrid capital markets real estate team.

Individuals who have a successful track record in Spanish real estate deal making and/or financing are prime candidates.

As you may know, we maintain an office in Madrid and are committed to providing the best possible service to financial institutions and large real estate property owners. For financial institutions we provide sophisticated valuation and disposition services. For large property owners, we can provide equity and debt capital for your large properties. We also specialize in providing owners with capital to buy their loans back from their lender at a discount or can get you the maximum amount for your asset, through an investment sale.

We have been in business since 1991 and we are one of the most successful real estate investment banks in the world, having closed almost $100 billion in transactions. We have been doing business in Europe for many years and have closed many large European investment sale and debt and equity transactions.

If the foregoing is of interest to you and you believe you can add value to our team, we would love to meet with you to discuss employment.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Carlton Records $1.5 Billion in European and U.S. April Transactions

April was a good month for Carlton’s friends and clients, as we transacted approximately $1.5 billion in equity and debt capital placements, loan and investment sales.

We understand that the capital markets today are challenging and that there is a huge disparity in the cost of capital provided by different lenders and investors. As such, we believe that the need for strong intermediaries is greater now than ever before. We pride ourselves on giving our clients 110% effort and instant access to capital from around the world. We provide sophisticated valuation models and instant access to debt and equity capital, which allows our clients to achieve their financial objectives.

A brief summary of Carlton’s April successes are as follows:

• Went hard on a contract to sell an $800 million portfolio of Class “A” hospitality assets in the U.S.  The purchaser is a Sovereign Wealth Investor.

• Provided a hard commitment to acquire a €200 million first mortgage loan from a European financial institution.  The loan is secured by an iconic European hospitality asset.

• Closed a construction loan in Poland to build a 150 unit residential tower.

• Led the successful $300 million sale/recapitalization at 14 Wall Street.

• Closed a major west coast residential land transaction, which will be developed into a $200 million plus residential tower.

• Closed a loan sale from a bank secured by a pool of sub-performing residential loan assets.

I encourage you to contact me directly to see how we can help you succeed on achieving your real estate related financial objectives.

Howard L. Michaels
Chairman

Carlton Advisory Services, Inc.

560 Lexington Avenue – 10th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 545-1000 office
(212) 867-1305 fax

Howard Michaels: The Toughest and Most Successful Capital Raiser in Real Estate – Putting Our Clients Needs First

The hard-driving commercial finance middleman has already done $5 billion in deals this year, but has a reputation as the ‘Ari Gold’ of the business

Thirty-four years ago, Howard Michaels was knocking on doors in the 2.3 million-square-foot Starrett-Lehigh office building, hawking copy machines for the 3M Company.

Those days are undoubtedly over. In 2004, he arranged a $219 million recapitalization of that same building, earning a seven-figure commission for his company, a real estate investment advisory firm known as the Carlton Group.

Carlton has been on an especially hot streak this year. So far in 2011, the company says it has closed $5 billion in transactions worldwide.

In two high-profile deals this spring, Carlton raised over $500 million of equity and debt for developer Harry Macklowe’s soon-to-be condo conversions at 737 Park Avenue and 150 East 72nd Street. And, at the office building 1180 Sixth Avenue, Carlton brought in an anonymous Chinese investor to bail out owner Murray Hill Properties before a planned foreclosure auction by the mezzanine debt holder, Shorenstein Properties.

In July, the commercial property trade publication Real Estate Alert rated Carlton the No. 1 office sales and recapitalization firm in Manhattan for the first half of 2011. Meanwhile, Carlton opened a new office in Athens last month and a London outpost in April, adding to its locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Florida.

The way Michaels tells it, Carlton’s current level of activity is due to a unique confluence of market factors that play to his strengths.

Michaels is fond of repeating that Carlton specializes in raising “passive, promotable equity” for clients – tapping high-net-worth individuals and institutions to access 80 to 100 percent of the capital required for a real estate project. Now, in a difficult deal-making environment, with many of the pre-recession players out of commission, Carlton is uniquely positioned to clean up.

“The real estate market right now is obviously very volatile,” Michaels said, excitedly pacing across his glass-walled corner office at 560 Lexington Avenue. “But I love it. I couldn’t be having more fun.”

Michaels is also famous for his grueling schedule. One former employee bemoaned Michaels’ mandatory Sunday-morning conference calls — which take place on holidays and long weekends, too.

“Carlton is not for the fainthearted,” he said. “If you’re not serious about work, this is probably not a good place. But if it’s someone who’s motivated and wants to do well, this is a great place to work.”

Big Carlton Closings Continue

Notwithstanding the capital markets malaise, Carlton continues to dominate the advisory capital markets arena having either closed or having under hard contract, over $1 billion in current transactions.

Carlton Partner, Michael Campbell attributes Carlton’s success to a tireless work ethic and fierce client advocacy which provides our clients with around the clock service and access to Carlton’s international rolodex of investors throughout the world.

A summary of the recent Carlton closings are as follows:

• A major development transaction in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan where Carlton arranged equity and debt for our client’s acquisition and ultimate development of one of the last great retail sites in the Highline/Meatpacking District in Manhattan.

• On the West Coast, we just closed a performing first mortgage note sale, secured by an iconic office tower in San Francisco. This loan was sold on behalf of a major institution to a large institutional investor.
•  We recently closed the financing secured by three Hilton branded hotels located in the Midwest.

• We also recently arranged the equity capital for our client’s acquisition of a nine-figure performing note, which is part of a billion-dollar multi-tranched debt and equity stack.

• We also have four different European transactions under hard contract for in excess of $400 million in expected closings.

We also have a number of transactions that are under hard contract and will be closing within the next 30 days aggregating over one billion in proceeds.

We are particularly proud of our ability to continue to transact large complicated transactions amidst all of the economic volatility and uncertainty which is prevalent in the marketplace.

We have been raising large amounts of equity and debt capital with the same team for longer than just about anyone.  This allows us to have consistent, dependable, reliable relationships throughout the world, which in turn, permits us to selectively access different capital partners for the appropriate transactions. Our clients know that when they come to us, they can count on a reliable and timely execution. We employ creative strategies and are often able to come up with structures and valuations which require an instinct not generally possessed by our competitors.

We work until the deal is done, regardless of the potential impediments to success. Moreover, given the severe economic turmoil and distress, it’s essential to have a long rolodex in order to access investors who can see through the headlines and evaluate and act on true economic opportunity which has allowed our transactions to be completed.

Finally, there are still some great year-end investments to participate in and I encourage you to call me if you have capital that you are looking to invest before the end of the year.

We look forward to speaking with you and discussing on a confidential basis any large transactions where Carlton can raise equity and or debt for you.

Thank you and we hope that you enjoy the holiday season in between your deal making.

Howard L. Michaels

Talented Equity and Debt Professionals Sought

Present market conditions are highly favorable to talented and well-connected intermediaries, who are in great demand by highly successful borrowers. We are seeking one or two talented equity and debt professionals to help us execute our multibillion dollar pipeline. The successful candidate should also have excellent industry contacts with high net worth and international investors, as well as having a high level of structuring and capital markets expertise. “Big Deal” rolodex is a must and we prefer professionals who have experience both domestically and overseas.

Current market conditions favor solid advisory and investment banking professionals, as a disparate capital market is forcing an increased reliance on professionals who can access capital. As you know, Carlton has a “big deal platform” and we execute some of the best transactions in the market. Solid base with excellent upside depending on experience.

We look forward to speaking with you.

Please fax cover letter and resume in confidence to 212-661-1295 or email it to robertgaeta@carltongroup.com and hlmichaels@carltongroup.com

Carlton Adds Four Senior Investment Bankers to its Large Loan Equity, Debt, and Restructuring Group

Carlton Chairman Howard L. Michaels has announced the hiring of four senior investment bankers who will work directly with Mr. Michaels and Carlton Partner Michael Campbell in executing the firm’s large loan, equity, debt, recap and restructuring business.

The four individuals are Laura Prager, formerly of Credit Suisse and Bank of America; Ken Montgomery, who previously ran funding at CIT and ING; Rich Cooney, previously a partner at Greenwich Group International; and Daniel I. Bildner, who was at Greenberg Traurig, LLP for 12 years and was most recently Vice President and General Counsel at Armstrong Capital Management LLC.

Mr. Montgomery has 15 years of extensive investment and management experience, including the implementation of repositioning and restructuring strategies for complex real estate transactions, as well as the sourcing and structuring of acquisition and disposition transactions for both investment managers and funds.

Prior to joining Carlton, Mr. Montgomery was a Director of Structured Finance for CIT’s Commercial Real Estate Group and ING Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Finance Group where he was responsible for the East Coast for both firms. Throughout his career, Montgomery has been involved in the origination, underwriting, closing and management of over $5 billion of closed real estate transactions.

Ms. Prager, who is an equity and debt large loan specialist, will work with Mr. Michaels in securing equity for our clients and take advantage of the over 500 pension funds, insurance companies endowments and other off market equity capital sources which Ms. Prager has by virtue of being a Managing Director at I Cap where she advised clients on buying out LP structures.

Mr. Bildner, Managing Director and General Counsel of The Carlton Group and its related companies, is the chief legal officer of Carlton, and involved in Carlton’s advisory, consulting, principal transaction, workout and restructuring businesses. He has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry. Mr. Bildner is also restructuring and workout specialist having successfully restructured over $1 billion of CMBS with some of the largest servicers in the United States.

Most recently, Mr. Bildner was Vice President and General Counsel of Armstrong Capital Management LLC, an owner and operator of nearly three million square feet of retail, shopping center, office, and multifamily properties, where he oversaw and led the acquisitions, financings, and joint ventures of the company. Prior to that, Mr. Bildner was a partner at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where he practiced in the Real Estate Department for 12 years handling numerous complex acquisition, financing, construction and joint venture matters.

Mr. Cooney is a real estate investment banking professional with 19 years of experience in the structured finance, sale, development, acquisition, recapitalization and asset management of institutional quality real estate. He has completed more than $6.5 billion in transactions on behalf of both private and public institutions domiciled in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to The Carlton Group, Mr. Cooney was the Founder and Managing Principal of The Bluestone Group, a boutique real estate investment banking firm. Before that, he was a partner at The Greenwich Group International LLC.

“He is a tough-minded, hard negotiator, who has a great track record of representing clients on the sale, refinancing, or recapitalization of large assets,” Campbell says.  “Rich also adds to our substantial overseas investor network, as he has substantial experience in working with international investors who are interested in deploying capital into the United States,” Campbell says.

Cooney will work directly with Messers Michaels and Campbell, focusing on loan restructures and in the Carlton Large Loan Group, which specializes in providing large amounts of equity and debt for large, complicated transactions.

Cooney has a B.S.B.A. in finance from Georgetown University and an M.B.A in finance and real estate from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
About The Carlton Group
The Carlton Group is an international real estate investment banking firm with offices throughout the United States and London. Founded in 1991, Carlton has consummated in excess of $80 billion in transactions. Carlton is one of the world’s most successful intermediaries in providing equity and debt capital solutions, as well as providing sophisticated investment sale services. The firm also specializes in providing commercial loan restructuring and recapitalization services. Carlton’s expertise includes arranging passive promotable equity for individual real estate transactions and raising entity level equity capital for institutional sponsors. Carlton also executes an aggressive international advisory platform, which is currently executing well over one billion dollars of equity, debt and investment sale advisory business throughout Europe and Eurasia.

European Capital Markets Advisory Professionals Sought

Carlton is currently executing a multibillion dollar advisory platform throughout Europe, Eurasia, and Asia and we are looking to add multilingual banking and advisory professionals to our team.

If you are familiar with the European markets and have excellent equity and debt relationships, you should contact us so you can join our capital markets team to assist European lenders and/or owners in the sale, recapitalization, and/or restructuring of assets located outside of the United States.

We look forward to hearing from you.