Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. Completes over $1.5B of Commercial Real Estate Debt Transactions in 2014

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (the “Company” or “ARI”)

today announced the Company closed an $82.5 million mezzanine loan, $49 million of which was funded at closing, for the development of a mixed-use property on the Upper West Side of New York City. With the closing of this transaction, ARI has committed to invest over $1.1 billion of equity into $1.5 billion of transactions in 2014, the Company's most active year since inception. Commenting on the transaction, Scott Weiner, Chief Investment Officer of the Company's manager, said: “The closing of this transaction culminates ARI's most successful and active year of investing since going public in 2009. We are extremely proud of ARI's performance in 2014 and we believe we have constructed a diversified portfolio of performing commercial real estate debt investments which produce an attractive, risk adjusted return. ARI's investment pipeline remains robust and we look forward to an active year in 2015.” Mezzanine Loan and Loan Repayment In December, ARI closed an $82.5 million mezzanine loan ($49 million of which was funded at closing) for the development of a mixed-use property on the Upper West Side of New York City. The property will include 247 for-sale condominiums, 116 affordable multifamily units and approximately 90,000 square feet of commercial space and is being financed with $582.5 million of debt, which includes a $500 million first mortgage loan and ARI's mezzanine loan. The floating-rate, mezzanine loan has a three-year initial term with two one-year extension options and an appraised loan-to-net-sellout of 58%. The first mortgage loan was underwritten to generate an internal rate of return (“IRR”)(1) of approximately 13%. Also in the fourth quarter, ARI received an $81 million principal repayment from a whole loan secured by a condominium conversion project in New York City. 2014 Investment Summary ARI committed to invest over $1.1 billion of equity into $1.5 billion of transactions in 2014, including: $792 million of equity into first mortgage loans, secured by a variety of property types including condominium developments, hotels and portfolios of destination homes. In addition, ARI completed the Company's first transaction in which ARI funded a whole loan at closing and subsequently sold a participation to a third party; $195 million of equity into subordinate loans, secured by a variety of property types including a ski resort, a healthcare portfolio, hotels, multifamily and condominium developments. In addition to expanding the Company's geographic footprint in the United States, ARI completed the Company's first transaction in the United Kingdom; $75 million of equity invested into commercial mortgage backed securities (“CMBS”) with an aggregate purchase price of $375 million; and €30.7 million ($39.5 million) investment in an entity that acquired a minority participation in KBC Bank Deutschland AG (“KBCD”), together with other investors, including other affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (“Apollo”). Following the closing of the transaction, KBCD was renamed Bremer Kreditbank AG and will operate under the name BKB Bank; “The diversity of transactions ARI completed in 2014 demonstrates the breadth of the commercial real estate credit platform Apollo has built over the past five years,” said Stuart Rothstein, Chief Executive Officer of ARI. “We believe the Company continues to develop a reputation with commercial real estate owners, brokers and lenders as a best-in-class provider of capital solutions. As we look ahead to 2015, we are confident in our ability to build upon ARI's existing momentum, further grow and diversify the Company's high quality investment portfolio and expand our operating platform.”