Bluerock to Acquire Minority Stake in Townsend; Partnership to Expand Townsend’s Distribution to U.S. Private Wealth Channel

Bluerock entered into a definitive agreement for an investment in, and strategic partnership plans with The Townsend Group. Bluerock will make a minority interest investment in the acquisition of Townsend as part of an investor group led by The Riverside Company, which is acquiring Townsend from Aon.

Townsend is a provider of global real estate and real asset investment advisory services, and offers complementary investment management, advisory, and capital solutions via primary funds, secondaries, co-investments and direct investments. Advising clients with real assets in excess of $218 billion, Townsend is an adviser to global public and private pension plans, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations. The firm has a global footprint with more than 110 employees located in Cleveland, London, Hong Kong, and San Francisco.

Bluerock, an alternative asset manager with more than $120 billion in real estate, credit, and capital markets experience and more than $18 billion in acquired and managed assets, manages multiple private and public investment company platforms.

“Townsend’s long-standing leadership in the institutional real assets space is a natural fit with Bluerock’s pioneering role in delivering institutional-quality alternative investments to individual investors over the last 22 years,” said Ramin Kamfar, Bluerock’s chief executive officer. “We believe that our partnership with Townsend, a preeminent real estate adviser in the institutional world, will deepen our collective intellectual capital base and allow us to develop innovative new investment solutions that will serve the growing needs of retail investors.”

As part of the transaction, Bluerock will expand Townsend’s distribution capabilities to the U.S. private wealth channel. “Bluerock is an established alternatives market leader in the private wealth channel,” said Anthony Frammartino, president of Townsend and soon to be chairman and CEO upon the closing of the transaction. “We are excited to expand Townsend’s institutional investment capabilities to high-net-worth investors through our partnership with Bluerock, leveraging their experienced team and robust retail platform.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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