Equity Capital Raises
Joint venture structuring, co-investment programs, and equity recapitalizations for institutional and private investors.
Sponsors who need certainty of execution
Developers and owners raising joint-venture, preferred or co-investment equity for ground-up development, recapitalizations and acquisitions across the Sun Belt states, with an emphasis on South Florida. The mandate is usually to complete the capital stack behind a senior construction or bridge lender, or to replace a partner without disrupting the business plan.
We work for the sponsor. Our role is to present the opportunity the way an investment committee expects to see it, run a competitive process among the right family offices, funds and private investors, and negotiate terms that protect the sponsor's economics and control.
Ground-up development
LP, co-GP and preferred equity to complete the capital stack above senior construction debt.
Recapitalizations
Replacing or buying out an existing partner, resetting the waterfall, or funding cost overruns and completion.
Acquisitions
Programmatic and one-off joint ventures for value-add and opportunistic acquisitions.
Structured positions
Preferred equity and participating structures where senior leverage is constrained.
How WD Capital works on this
A principal-led process from sizing through closing. One team, start to finish.
Underwrite the ask
We rebuild the sources and uses, test the returns at the investor's level, and settle the structure — LP, co-GP, preferred — before anyone sees the deal.
Prepare the materials
An institutional offering memorandum and model, with the sponsor track record and business plan presented in investor terms.
Run the process
Targeted outreach to a curated list of capital partners, managed on a timeline, with term sheets compared side by side.
Negotiate and close
Waterfall, control rights, fees and promote negotiated with counsel through documentation, closing and funding.
Equity structures, defined
Plain-English definitions of the instruments we place. Terms vary by lender and market.
| Preferred equity | An ownership position with a priority return ahead of common equity, documented in the operating agreement rather than as a loan; often used where the senior lender will not permit mezzanine debt. |
|---|---|
| Joint-venture (LP) equity | A capital partner that funds most of the equity in a specific project alongside the sponsor, sharing in profits through a negotiated waterfall and promote. |
| Co-GP equity | Capital invested at the sponsor level to fund the sponsor's own required equity, sharing in the sponsor's promote rather than only in project returns. |
| GP capital | Capital raised at the general-partner or company level to fund co-investment obligations, working capital and growth across multiple projects. |
| Programmatic venture | One capital partner committed to a pipeline of deals under agreed parameters, deal by deal, without a blind-pool fund. |
| Recapitalization | Replacing or buying out an existing partner, resetting the capital structure or funding completion, without selling the asset. |
| Waterfall and promote | The order in which cash flow and profits are distributed between investor and sponsor; the promote is the sponsor's share above its invested capital once return hurdles are met. |
| Intercreditor agreement | The contract between senior and subordinate capital that sets notice, cure and standstill rights when a loan is in default. |
Equity placements
Frequently asked
What is the difference between preferred equity and mezzanine debt in a real estate deal?
Both sit between the senior loan and the sponsor's common equity. Mezzanine is a loan secured by a pledge of the ownership interests, with an intercreditor agreement with the senior lender. Preferred equity is an ownership position with a priority return, usually documented inside the operating agreement, which some senior lenders prefer because it is not additional debt on the property. Which one fits depends on what the senior lender will permit and how the sponsor wants control and remedies structured.
How much equity does a developer need to raise for a construction project in South Florida?
It depends on how much senior construction debt the project supports, which is set by loan-to-cost, loan-to-value and debt-yield limits rather than a fixed rule. The gap between total project cost and the senior loan is the equity requirement. Sponsors often fill part of that gap with a joint-venture or preferred equity partner so their own capital goes further across more projects.
What do equity investors expect to see before they commit to a joint venture?
A clear business plan, a budget and proforma that survive scrutiny, the sponsor's track record on comparable projects, and a proposed structure covering the waterfall, control rights, fees and promote. WD Capital Group prepares the offering memorandum and model in that form and runs a competitive process so the sponsor compares terms rather than negotiating with a single investor.
Does WD Capital Group invest its own capital in the deals it advises on?
No. The firm is an independent advisor. It does not lend or invest its own balance sheet in client transactions, so its advice is not shaped by a product it needs to place.
The people on the mandate
Emile Schachter
Leads the firm's capital markets origination and execution across debt, preferred equity and structured finance.
Profile →Eduardo Pelaez
More than two decades in global finance, real estate investment and family-office asset management; CEO of Wellmeaning Holdings.
Profile →Alvaro Cardenas
More than 25 years in global strategy, finance and real estate investment, including family offices and cross-border joint ventures.
Profile →Discuss a financing
Senior construction debt, bridge, mezzanine, preferred equity and structured capital across the Sun Belt states, with an emphasis on South Florida.