ASK Partners has appointed two managing partners as the specialist property finance firm looks to expand its lending activities, broaden its investor base and pursue opportunities in real estate equity investment.
Greg Cohen and Marc Foster have joined the firm’s senior leadership team alongside co-founders Daniel Austin and Doug King, with Austin remaining chief executive.
Both appointments are expected to lead to equity stakes in ASK, which has deployed more than £2 billion across over 160 property transactions since its establishment in 2016.
The expansion follows OakNorth Bank’s acquisition of a 50% interest in ASK in 2022 and comes as the lender relocates its London headquarters to 107–113 Great Portland Street.
The enlarged leadership team will seek to develop ASK’s existing debt business while increasing its capacity to originate transactions and attract private and institutional capital. The firm also intends to consider selected equity investments alongside established property operating partners.
PROPERTY INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE
Cohen has more than 20 years’ experience in property development and investment and is a partner at Sterlet Properties, formerly Newmark Property Consultants.
During his career, he has been involved in the acquisition and development of more than 1.5 million sq ft of property across various sectors, with transactions representing combined sales values exceeding £500 million.
His experience includes joint ventures with Argo, Investec and RBE Investments, as well as transactions involving Derwent, Aviva and British Land.
Foster brings experience in private capital deployment and property investment across debt and equity structures. He established Melrose Capital, a family investment and trading business, in 2018 to undertake opportunistic investments across different property sectors and geographical markets.
Its recent transactions include investments involving approximately 2,000 student beds in London and Manchester, life sciences developments in Cambridge and more than 500,000 sq ft of industrial property.
Both men have existing relationships with ASK, having invested in its loans and worked with the business on previous transactions. They will continue their respective activities through Sterlet Properties and Melrose Capital alongside their new responsibilities.
BROADER CAPITAL STRATEGY
Austin, chief executive and co-founder of ASK Partners, says: “Greg and Marc joining the leadership team is an important step in the next stage of ASK’s growth.
“They bring complementary experience across development, investment, origination and private capital, as well as longstanding relationships across the real estate market.
“That strengthens our existing lending business, expands our investor network and gives us the capability to pursue selected equity opportunities where we believe we can create additional value for our investors and partners.
“Importantly, this is about building on what ASK already does well. We will continue to be highly selective and underwriting-led, but with a broader senior team, greater origination capability and more ways to deploy capital into attractive real estate opportunities.”
Cohen says his experience as a property investor and developer will complement ASK’s established lending operations.
He says: “I have spent my career investing and developing as an equity principal, which means looking at real estate through a slightly different lens – not simply how an investment is financed, but how value can be created through hands-on asset management.
“ASK has built an exceptional debt platform and I see a significant opportunity to combine that financing expertise with principal-side investment and development experience.”
Foster says the partnership offers an opportunity to combine private capital investment expertise with an established lending platform.
He says: “My belief has always been that the starting point should be the quality of the underlying real estate and the opportunity itself, and that the best outcomes are achieved by working closely and collaboratively with partners, investors and borrowers throughout.
“That philosophy is strongly aligned with ASK’s approach and bringing additional equity capability into the business means we can now apply it across a much broader range of situations.”
The changes mark a potential broadening of ASK’s activities beyond its established property debt offering, although the firm says its lending decisions will continue to be driven by selective underwriting.
Pictured (L-R): Daniel Austin, Doug King, Marc Foster and Greg Cohen.
