Claros Mortgage Trust, a commercial mortgage REIT focused on transitional commercial real estate assets, raised $103 million by offering 5.5 million shares at $18.65, the low end of the range of $18.65 to $19.65. The company offered 1.5 million fewer shares than anticipated. It plans to issue a quarterly dividend of all or substantially all of its REIT taxable income.
Claros is a commercial real estate (CRE) finance company focused primarily on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional CRE assets located in major US markets. Transitional CRE assets are properties that require repositioning, renovation, rehabilitation, leasing, development or redevelopment, or other value-added elements in order to maximize value. From its 2015 inception through June 30, 2021, Claros has raised approximately $2.6 billion of equity capital and originated, co-originated, or acquired 86 investments consisting of 131 loans on transitional CRE assets with aggregate loan commitments of approximately $11.5 billion. As of June 30, 2021, its loan portfolio was comprised of 56 loan investments consisting of 92 loans, representing aggregate loan commitments of $7.5 billion, remaining loan commitments of $7.3 billion, and unpaid principal balance of $6.1 billion.
Claros Mortgage Trust plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol CMTG. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank, Wells Fargo Securities, JMP Securities, and Keefe Bruyette Woods acted as joint bookrunners on the deal.
