Sam van Praag
Executive Director
Sam van Praag is Executive Director at Woodbridge. Sam has 16 years’ experience working in real estate private equity and credit markets across Australia and New Zealand. Sam prides himself on strong client relationships, is a skilled negotiator and is driven to achieve the best outcomes for investors. Sam’s expertise in investment banking and property finance has seen him bring many landmark projects to fruition.
Prior to co-founding Woodbridge, Sam was Co-Head of Private Credit at Merricks Capital where he was responsible for the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) portfolio throughout Australia and New Zealand including origination of all CRE transactions. Sam was instrumental in growing the funds under management and deployed in excess of $1 billion of capital year on year. Having grown up in New Zealand, Sam has deep relationships in both Australia and New Zealand.
Prior to this Sam was Head of Origination at IDA Property Group, a private equity real estate and advisory firm based in Melbourne. Specialising in the funding of medium to large-scale real estate development projects IDA invested throughout Australia. As Head of Origination Sam was responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and executing both debt and equity transactions.
Prior to this Sam held investment roles at Qualitas and Monark dealing in both private credit and equity. During this time, he gained exposure to a wide range of transactions across the capital stack and multiple asset classes. Sam holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.