Cohen and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arrange financing. (Commercial).

CHICAGO-BASED COHEN FINANCIAL AND Dallas-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP have arranged $210 million in commercial real estate financing for funds managed by Chicago-based CMD Realty Investors (CMD). Subsidiaries of AIG provided the financing in the form of a $70 million loan on a cross-collateralized pool of 11 assets and a $140 million loan on a cross-collateralized pool of 22 assets. The alliance of two commercial real estate finance intermediaries on a major assignment is unique in the industry, according to the companies. The move also sets a precedent for CMD, which until now handled the majority of its financial transactions directly with sources of capital.

In arranging the AIG loan, Cohen Financial and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler produced a significant new source of transactional capital that will be applied to reduce CMD's existing lines of bank credit to free up capital. The overall goal is to extend and diversify CMD's debt relationships.

Cohen Financial and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler worked together to prepare transaction documentation and developed a universe of potential lenders whose investment criteria matched with CMD's business plan. Direct lender contact responsibility was defined by strength of relationship between the two firms. Once the field of lenders was narrowed down, all parties participated in the loan negotiations and all dialogues occurred on a co-representation basis.