US Cornerstone acquires UK's Protego to manage $30bn, channel capital across Atlantic

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is entering European property by acquiring Protego Real Estate Investors, based in London. The acquisition will be made by the US group's property manager Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, and is designed to channel property capital both ways across the Atlantic. Cornerstone will also integrate MassMutual commercial mortgage lending unit Real Estate Finance Group of Babson Capital Management. The newly-expanded Cornerstone will thus become a unit of Babson, and will manage some $30bn of real estate assets - ranking it as one of the largest global property managers. Protego, established in April 2004 by Iain Reid, Charles Weeks and Hugo Llewelyn, manages and services some $2.5bn of assets in the UK, Sweden, Finland and Germany. (See upcoming PIE/PFE editions for full story)