Welcome - The past few weeks have been notable for a number of personnel changes in major property companies, with the leavetaking of the flamboyant Carlo Puri Negri from Pirelli Real Estate after 20 years and the abrupt departure of Michael Pralle from JER Partners, almost before he started as European head.

Meanwhile Rothschild’s Rodney Bysh has taken the plunge and opted to raise his own fund, as have a number of former GPT Halverton directors, with the launch of a new investment management platform.

The recession is bringing change: many people find themselves laid off and others (such as Puri Negri) decide it is a good time to bow out. Others see the fractured market as an entrepreneurial opportunity.

It is too glib to suggest redundancy is the springboard to success, but enforced entrepreneurships often are the most successful, while the departure some of the ‘old guard’ or the company player striking out on his or her own are key markers in the renewal of the industry.

It will be tough, but the best of the new businesses launched in the teeth of this recession will be the giants of the industry in the future.

A reminder to fund managers out there: EuroProperty and INREV are carrying out their annual fund manager survey. INREV is collecting data for the survey, the results of which will be published later this year in EuroProperty. Fund managers wishing to submit information to INREV should contact Shetal Patel.

Mark Cooper - Group Editor
Bert Erik ten Cate - Editor

Puri Negri resigns as Pirelli RE chief executive

Former actor who led the Milan-based company to be replaced by Giulio Malfatto, who returns to oversee a major reorganisation of its property operations.

Pralle leaves JER Partners

Michael Pralle, the proposed successor of JER Partners' European head, Malcolm Le May, has left the firm after 18 months.

HSBC to market prime Paris sale-and-leaseback asset

Global bank to market Champs Elysées headquarters and also plans to offer other assets, such as the former Metrovacesa building in London's Canary Wharf.

VTB Bank buys stake in Sistema-Hals for less than $1

Moscow-based conglomerate Sistema has sold a stake in its property unit, Sistema-Hals, to creditor VTB Bank for less than a $1.Sistema also gave the bank an option to take an extra 31.5%, effectively a controlling stake in the subsidiary.

Gecina

Cartoonists, analysts and Spain's financial press have all dined out on the saga that is the split between Gecina, France's second-largest real estate investment trust (REIT), and Metrovacesa, Spain's largest property firm.

CMBS refinancing poses major threat to real estate market

With many European CMBS loans due to mature between 2011 and 2014, a question mark hangs over their future, as experts warn of the 'train wreck coming down the track'.

Key data: The listed sector

March EPRA/NAREIT results show slight fall - UK's Unite Group and Invista among top performers.

Europroperty

Headlines
Deals News
Research
Print Subscription