OREANDA-NEWS. The ING Real Estate Finance UK team was named Lender of the Year in the Estates Gazette Awards 2016, highlighting its role as a principal financer of prime real estate in the United Kingdom.

“Our UK team is modestly-sized compared to many of our competitors and yet continues to lead the way by swiftly executing major financings and delivering personalised, bespoke services to our clients,” said head of Real Estate Finance Western Europe, UK, USA, and Structured Products Mike Shields.

“Being named Lender of the Year in the Estates Gazette Awards 2016 is testament to these successes and is a huge honour for the whole team.”

Other finalists in the category included Aviva Investors Real Estate Finance, AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets, NatWest, Dragonfly Property Finance and LendInvest.

Notable transactions in 2015 and 2016 included 30 St Mary’s Axe (‘The Gherkin’), for which ING provided a full underwrite and finalised the syndication process in April 2015. There was also Salesforce Tower, for which ING Real Estate Finance was the joint bookrunner with LBBW for the underwriting of a ?400m, five-year senior term loan to refinance the iconic building in 2016.