Walker & Dunlop, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Beler Advisory Group, an independent real estate advisory firm based in New York City. The firm's key principal, Mo Beler, joins Walker & Dunlop as Senior Managing Director of the New York City Capital Markets Debt and Equity Team led by Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, and Adam Schwartz. Mr. Beler will focus on sourcing and structuring equity capital transactions and debt financing for all commercial real estate asset classes nationally, as well as expanding Walker & Dunlop's client base and capital markets capabilities.
The Beler Advisory Group is a boutique, real estate advisory firm with a national reach, offering commercial real estate debt solutions, including joint venture equity placement and structured finance. Established in fall 2019, Beler Advisory Group is independently owned and operated by Mo Beler, a 15-year industry veteran with over $6 billion of multi-sector and multi-risk investing and advisory experience across the capital stack.
"We are thrilled to welcome Mo to Walker & Dunlop," commented Chairman and CEO Willy Walker. "Mo has been consistently recognized as a leader in the debt and equity advisory space, and his addition will further strengthen our New York Capital Markets presence. This acquisition will immediately benefit Walker & Dunlop through Beler Advisory's deep client relationships, strong deal flow, and long-standing partnership with our New York City Capital Markets Debt and Equity Team."
Prior to founding Beler Advisory Group, Mo served as a Vice Chairman within JLL Capital Markets. While at JLL, Mo was directly involved in commercial transactions totaling more than $2 billion. Before joining JLL, Mo was Principal and Head of investments at Innovo Property Group, and earlier served as a vice president within Rockwood Capital's acquisition group.
Mr. Beler stated, "I am looking forward to being united with my past partners, which in conjunction with the industry-leading capabilities of Walker and Dunlop, creates extraordinary synergy resulting in a very powerful combination for our clients."
Walker & Dunlop is a leader in the commercial real estate finance industry, ranking as the top Fannie Mae DUS® multifamily lender, the 3rd largest Freddie Mac Optigo® multifamily lender by volume, and the 3rd largest HUD lender based on MAP initial endorsements in 2019. The company has also achieved dramatic growth in its brokered loan origination volumes, which increased 23.4 percent from 2018 to 2019. This has largely been due to the company's successful hiring and integration of talented bankers and brokers. Since the beginning of 2019, Walker & Dunlop has added 52 bankers and brokers to the platform.
About Walker & Dunlop
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 850+ professionals in 40 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.
