London-based investment banking and private equity group Evans Randall is joining forces with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) to provide mezzanine financing in European real estate. The partnership, which will have a target size of $500 mln, will focus on the UK and German markets, and will seek to capitalise on the growing gap in the capital structure of property investments between senior debt and common equity. The joint venture will aim to pay annual cash returns of between 8% and 12% to investors with projected IRRs of 15%-20%.