NREP has appointed Jens Stender as partner and global markets head to help progress the company’s international growth strategy.
Stender joins NREP from global management consulting and executive search firm Egon Zehnder, where he previously served for 14 years as partner and most recently as global co-head of the technology and communications practice.
Prior to that, Stender was CEO and founder of MFD Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland in Germany and held positions as head of M&A with Debitel AG and as an M&A lawyer with Linklaters in the UK and in Germany.
NREP said Stender initially engaged with the company in an advisory capacity, supporting the establishment of a team to lead its dedicated venture capital firm focused on accelerating a sustainable transition of the built environment.
At NREP, Stender has joined as a member of the executive management team and taken on the newly-created head of global markets role to help lead the firm’s “growth ambitions, on both a geographical and strategic level, as it looks to enter new markets and product lines”, the company said.
NREP is the largest real estate investment manager in the Nordics with €17bn of assets under management. In June last year, the manager made its first investment in Poland as part of what it said was its plan to extend NREP’s strategy into northern Europe.
NREP said Stender’s appointment increases the company’s partnership to 18 and follows the recent appointment of Heather Mulahasani as a partner to explore “adjacent infrastructure” opportunities.
Back in 2020 Emanuele Bena, a former JP Morgan EMEA real estate executive director, joined NREP as partner and capital markets head to help grow the company’s ”pipeline of large regional and international investment opportunities and to increase its available financing options”.
Commenting on the latest appointment, Claus Mathisen, CEO of NREP, said NREP’s success can be attributed to a virtuous circle that brings together the best combination of people, capital and ideas, and Stender’s appointment is a reflection of this.
“It’s with great pleasure to officially welcome Stender on board; I’m confident that his unrivalled experience in building up and leading world-class teams, will help elevate NREP’s growth ambitions, as we enter new markets and verticals that allow us to actively participate in enhancing the urban eco-system.”
Stender said: “I join NREP with the benefit of perspective in having seen hundreds of organisations from the inside, including this unique business which immediately stood out on account of its inspiring culture, ambition and purpose.
“Following a career deeply rooted in values, I fully subscribe to NREP’s problem-solving philosophy and was intrigued by the rare opportunity to make a direct contribution to influencing a positive change in our environment, and thus our future, for the better.”
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