F2 Aims To Boost High-Yield Lending.

 

F2 expects to originate at least another $150 million of high-yield debt tied to commercial properties by yearend.
 

The Beverly Hills-based investment manager has funded 16 loans and preferred-equity financings totaling about $110 million since it was formed two years ago. Founder and chief executive Jonathan Fhima considers that a strong showing, given that soaring interest rates and other headwinds have constrained commercial-property lending and sales since early last year.
 

The firm’s six-member staff writes fixed- and floating-rate bridge loans, mezzanine debt, preferred-equity investments and note-on-note financings tied to commercial properties across the U.S. All of its originations to date were connected to properties in California, Florida and New York, and most were pegged to fixed rates.
 

The firm now targets transactions from $2 million to $50 million, slightly wider than its initial range of approximately $3 million to $30 million. The typical term is around one year, plus up to four six-month extension options.
 

F2’s deals in the works include two multifamily transactions expected to close this month. One is a $4.5 million note-on-note financing for the buyer of a $6 million nonperforming loan on a Los Angeles property. The other is a $3 million senior bridge loan that the borrower would use to finance the planned purchase of a property in Manhattan.
 

F2 is a private equity firm that runs separate accounts on behalf of boutique asset managers and family offices. Fhima, who previously worked at New York-based Lightstone, noted that no borrower has ever defaulted or missed a monthly payment on an F2 loan. He added that eight of the loans originated by the firm have been paid off already due to property sales or refinancings.