Mashreq’s real estate franchise is built as a specialist platform rather than a volume engine. A 32-person team, unusually rich in Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Chartered Financial Analyst Institute charterholders, undertakes the bank’s underwriting and structuring, allowing it to move beyond plain senior loans into equity, mezzanine and back-leverage solutions.
The strategy prioritises sophistication and portfolio resilience over raw balance-sheet expansion, which is evidenced by a 17-year track record during which its commercial real estate book has not recorded a loss and, in the past five years, has had no non-performing exposures.
That expertise is complemented by sponsor intimacy. Mashreq positions itself as a first-call partner to global real estate heavyweights, along with regional blue-chips, using speed and technical depth to win mandates that require layered capital stacks or cross-border familiarity.
Mashreq’s ability to bridge regional expertise with global capability is what truly differentiates us
Tarek El Nahas
Recent landmark transactions include a multi-billion-dirham facility for a prominent private investment office in the UAE, end-to-end financing for a flagship luxury development in Dubai, a hybrid corporate and real estate liquidity solution for a diversified regional conglomerate, long-tenor financing for a major residential portfolio in Qatar, and an export credit agency supported structure for a sovereign-backed mega-project in Saudi Arabia.
By combining deep-sector expertise with the ability to execute complex transactions across multiple jurisdictions, Mashreq has positioned itself as a trusted partner for sponsors and investors globally who are seeking scale, sophistication and certainty, says Zain Qureshi, executive vice-president and global head of real estate.
The hallmarks have included a strong emphasis on product innovation and finding effective solutions to meet the needs of a dynamic real estate market.
Responding to liquidity pinch points in Gulf land trading, the bank launched its land payment guarantee proposition, enabling large landowners to sell plots on schedules while giving sellers bank-backed comfort and allowing developers to preserve equity for build-out. It also rolled out receivables financing for developers to smooth cash flows – developments aimed at insulating the cycle from the kind of credit squeeze seen in 2008. These sit alongside an escrow regime the bank helped pioneer in Dubai and has since exported around the region, reinforcing investor protections and standardising best practice.
Our leadership in real estate finance is a direct outcome of Mashreq’s commitment to advisory-led solutions and disciplined execution
Joel Van Dusen
Digital execution underpins the platform. The real estate operation sits inside a bank that is now fully digital, with end-to-end automation across escrow and cash management, including host-to-host integrations and virtual accounts for hospitality and residential clients.
“Mashreq’s ability to bridge regional expertise with global capability is what truly differentiates us,” says Tarek El Nahas, senior executive vice-president and head of international banking group. “By supporting clients in key international markets while maintaining leadership in the Middle East, we have created a platform that enables cross-border growth and advances sustainable development objectives for our partners.”
Commercially, the division delivered strong double-digit revenue growth despite compressing net-interest margins, driven largely by new-to-bank clients and quick credit turnaround while maintaining its zero-non-performing loan record. The bank also convened a private roundtable with The Economist to accelerate the entry of institutional capital into Gulf Cooperation Council real estate, reinforcing its self-assigned role as a market maker as well as a lender.
“Our leadership in real estate finance is a direct outcome of Mashreq’s commitment to advisory-led solutions and disciplined execution,” says Joel Van Dusen, senior executive vice-president and head of corporate and investment banking group. “We have consistently demonstrated that innovation and risk management can go hand in hand, enabling us to deliver transformative financing structures that support client growth and strengthen market resilience.”
