NEW YORK, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AllianceBernstein L.P. today announced the closing of its first private equity real estate fund, AllianceBernstein U.S. Real Estate Partners, L.P., (the "Fund") with capital commitments of $680 million. Commitments to the Fund were received from several large, global institutional investors, including Temasek, the Singapore-based investment company, Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund, as well as institutions from the U.S., Hong Kong and Japan. In addition, numerous AllianceBernstein private clients and employees made commitments to the Fund. With additional co-investment capital from key strategic investors, the Fund could have approximately $900 million of available equity.

The Fund represents an important milestone for AllianceBernstein, which formed the Real Estate Group in September 2009 in order to build out a preeminent private equity real estate platform by leveraging the firm's current resources and existing infrastructure. The Real Estate Group is led by co-CIO's Brahm Cramer and Jay Nydick as well as managing director, Adam Brooks. Mr. Cramer and Mr. Brooks each spent their careers prior to joining AllianceBernstein with Goldman Sachs. Mr. Cramer co-headed the firm's Real Estate Principal Investment Area and Mr. Brooks built and led the firm's real estate mezzanine investing businesses. Mr. Nydick had most recently been the President of iStar Financial, the NYSE listed real estate specialty finance company, where he built several innovative new credit-based businesses.

"As a first time fund, we are thrilled with the success of our capital raise within a very difficult fundraising environment," said Brahm Cramer, co-CIO of the AllianceBernstein Real Estate Group. "We believe this is a credit to the AllianceBernstein network, the favorable investment environment for real estate and the early investments we have made. We are excited to partner with investors who share our strategic vision of creating value through the resolution of complex restructurings and recapitalizations of distressed real estate assets across the U.S."

To date, the Fund has committed more than $200 million of equity across six separate transactions. These investments include recapitalizations of distressed loans secured by office buildings in San Jose, California and suburban Seattle, a limited service hospitality portfolio and a residential land site in New Jersey. The Fund has also made direct real estate acquisitions including multifamily portfolios in Manhattan and in the Southeast U.S.

"We are pleased with the pace of investments and the make-up of the current portfolio," said Jay Nydick, the Real Estate Group's co-CIO. "We believe the current investments confirm our ability to execute our strategy and to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the resolution of situational distress."

The Fund is actively seeking debt and equity investment opportunities across all property types and geographic locations throughout the United States with a current focus on the recapitalization of distressed assets. The Fund is looking to make investments of $20-100 million per transaction and expects to invest in partnership with talented local market operators, existing owners of assets and in conjunction with borrowers seeking to recapitalize assets or entities.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a leading global investment management firm that offers high-quality research and diversified investment services to institutional investors, individuals and private clients in major world markets.

At March 31, 2012, AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: [ AB ]) owned approximately 37.9% of the issued and outstanding AllianceBernstein Units and AXA, one of the largest global financial services organizations, owned an approximate 63.5% economic interest in AllianceBernstein.

Additional information about AllianceBernstein may be found on our internet site, [ www.alliancebernstein.com ].

Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements provided by management in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The most significant of these factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the performance of financial markets, the investment performance of sponsored investment products and separately-managed accounts, general economic conditions, industry trends, future acquisitions, competitive conditions, and current and proposed government regulations, including changes in tax regulations and rates and the manner in which the earnings of publicly-traded partnerships are taxed. AllianceBernstein cautions readers to carefully consider such factors. Further, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made; AllianceBernstein undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. For further information regarding these forward-looking statements and the factors that could cause actual results to differ, see "Risk Factors" and "Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in AllianceBernstein's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Any or all of the forward-looking statements made in this release, Form 10-K, other documents AllianceBernstein files with or furnishes to the SEC, and any other public statements issued by AllianceBernstein, may turn out to be wrong. It is important to remember that other factors besides those listed in "Risk Factors" and "Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," and those listed below, could also adversely affect AllianceBernstein's financial condition, results of operations and business prospects.

SOURCE AllianceBernstein L.P.

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AllianceBernstein Closes Its First Private Equity Real Estate Fund

AllianceBernstein Closes Its First Private Equity Real Estate Fund