Allianz Real Estate, the property arm of German insurer the Allianz Group, has unveiled plans to open an office in London with two key hires.
The London office will help drive origination and partner management for more complex cross border equity deals in Europe, Allianz said, as well as the origination of pan-European debt activity where the asset or borrower sits in the UK.
'London remains highly influential in a European and global context, and we believe there are excellent opportunities for growth and increased capital allocation,' said Francois Trausch, Allianz Real Estate's CEO.
The firm has appointed Kari Pitkin as head of business development across Europe, reporting to Olivier Teran, chief investment officer.
With 20 years of investment banking experience in the EMEA region, Pitkin will join Allianz on 1st June from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she held the position of head of EMEA real estate & lodging, having joined the firm in 2005.
Allianz has also appointed Shripal Shah as head of debt origination - London, to lead the team serving UK and pan-European clients. Shah will join on 1st August and report to Roland Fuchs, head of European debt.
Since 2002 Shah covered senior positions in international real estate banking at Barclays Bank and HSBC before joining JCRA, where he has been head of real estate since 2016.
'We are absolutely delighted to welcome Kari and Shripal to the team. Their deep experience will be instrumental in driving our origination and partnerships activities,' added Trausch.
Significant market
London has become an increasingly significant market for Allianz Real Estate over the past two years, during which time it has completed a number of high-profile transactions.
In February this year, the firm announced the acquisition of the Paul St East student accommodation alongside Greystar Real Estate Partners and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. In April, the firm financed Southbank Central for c. €200 mln for an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, with Allianz as sole lender. This transaction represented a further London prime debt investment following financing for St Katharine Docks, 80 Fenchurch Street and 55 Baker Street.
'London has become a prime debt market for us and we have a large, growing number of partnerships with stakeholders based in the city,' said Roland Fuchs, head of European debt, Allianz Real Estate.
'The success of our recently launched Luxembourg regulated European debt platform, which has included deals in the UK, and our related push into third party funds in 2019 means now is a very appropriate time to expand our presence further.'
