Simmons & Simmons is expanding its UK banking team, with the hire of Kamal Arulvel, a real estate finance expert. Kamal will join the firm as a partner on 21 June.
Kamal joins Simmons from Reed Smith where he has spent the last three years as a partner. Prior to this, he was a senior associate with Herbert Smith Freehills where he began to evolve a practice which includes advising lenders and borrowers in investment and development financings across the real estate sector, as well as advising clients on cross-border senior and mezzanine financings. More recently, Kamal has developed a specialist offering in loan on loan finance in the real estate finance market.
Upon his arrival at Simmons, Kamal will work closely with partner James Taylor in London, advising on the market of these loan on loan transactions. He’ll also collaborate with other members of the firm’s international banking team, particularly our REF teams in Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands and Italy.
Commenting on Kamal’s arrival at the firm, lead real estate finance partner Mark Waghorn said: “I am delighted that Kamal is joining our growing banking team in London. With his extensive real estate finance practice and his specialism in the growing market for loan on loan financing advice, he will certainly bolster the capabilities of the team, and be able to offer his clients the wide capabilities we have in the UK and internationally for REF work.”
On joining Simmons, Kamal commented: “Simmons already has an impressive international network of banking experts and I’m pleased to be joining their ranks. I intend to further enhance my private real estate credit funds work through Simmons’ platform, whilst also providing additional partner resource on broader base real estate financing matters. There is huge opportunity to service clients in the debt funds space and I will be pursuing these mandates wherever possible.”
Kamal’s hire is the fourth that Simmons has made into its UK banking group in the last eighteen months, following the arrival of Tina Lockwood in January, Ben Jones in February and Elliot Beard in April of 2021.