Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. Completes

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jun 26, 2014) -  Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (the "Company" or "ARI") (NYSE: ARI) today announced the Company closed two commercial real estate loan transactions totaling $93.4 million and acquired legacy commercial mortgage backed securities ("CMBS") formerly rated AAA with an aggregate purchase price of $50.2 million. Year-to-date, ARI has committed to invest in over $595 million of commercial real estate loan transactions and CMBS.

New Investments ARI's new investments include the following:

• $65.1 million floating-rate first mortgage loan ($20 million of which was funded at closing) for the development of a 40-unit luxury residential condominium in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. ARI's loan has a 30-month term with a six-month extension option. On a fully funded basis, the first mortgage loan has a projected appraised loan-to-net sellout of approximately 67% and has been underwritten to generate an internal rate of return ("IRR")⁽¹⁾ of approximately 14%;

• $28.3 million fixed-rate mezzanine loan secured by the equity interest in a 795-key full-service hotel and 226,000 square foot office and retail condominium in the Times Square neighborhood of New York City. The mezzanine loan has a remaining six months term and an underwritten loan-to-value ("LTV") of 67%. The mezzanine loan was underwritten to generate an IRR⁽¹⁾ of approximately 8%; and

• $10.0 million of equity for the acquisition of CMBS with an aggregate purchase price of $50.2 million. ARI financed the CMBS utilizing $40.2 million of borrowings under the Company's master repurchase agreement with Deutsche Bank AG. The CMBS have a weighted average life of 1.7 years and have been underwritten to generate an IRR⁽¹⁾ of approximately 16.5%.

Commenting on the transactions, Scott Weiner, the Chief Investment Officer of the Company's Manager, said: "ARI has had a really strong start in the first six months of 2014 with respect to capital deployment, having committed to over $595 million of commercial real estate debt investments year-to-date. We believe the Company continues to identify well structured transactions which offer attractive, risk adjusted returns and our pipeline remains robust."

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: ARI) is a real estate investment trust that primarily originates, invests in, acquires and manages performing commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, CMBS and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The Company is externally managed and advised by ACREFI Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, LLC, a leading global alternative investment manager with approximately $159.3 billion of assets under management at March 31, 2014. 

⁽¹⁾ The underwritten IRR for the investments listed in this press release reflect the returns underwritten by ACREFI Management, LLC, the Company's external manager (the "Manager"), calculated on a weighted average basis assuming no dispositions, early prepayments or defaults. With respect to certain loans, the underwritten IRR calculation assumes certain estimates with respect to the timing and magnitude of future fundings for the remaining commitments and associated loan repayments, and assumes no defaults. IRR is the annualized effective compounded return rate that accounts for the time-value of money and represents the rate of return on an investment over a holding period expressed as a percentage of the investment. It is the discount rate that makes the net present value of all cash outflows (the costs of investment) equal to the net present value of cash inflows (returns on investment). It is derived from the negative and positive cash flows resulting from or produced by each transaction (or for a transaction involving more than one investment, cash flows resulting from or produced by each of the investments), whether positive, such as investment returns, or negative, such as transaction expenses or other costs of investment, taking into account the dates on which such cash flows occurred or are expected to occur, and compounding interest accordingly. There can be no assurance that the actual IRRs will equal the underwritten IRRs shown in this press release. See "Item 1A--Risk Factors--The Company may not achieve its underwritten internal rate of return on its investments which may lead to future returns that may be significantly lower than anticipated" included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 for a discussion of some of the factors that could adversely impact the returns received by the Company from the investments shown in the press release over time.

Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Company's control. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of the Company's business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. When used in this release, the words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, plan, continue, intend, should, may or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, may be forward-looking: the return on equity; the yield on investments; the ability to borrow to finance assets; the Company's ability to deploy the proceeds of its capital raises or acquire its target assets; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements, and other risks, uncertainties and factors are based on the Company's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of its future performance, taking into account all information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.