James Jakeman, the former Lehman Brothers director who moved to Société Générale last September, has joined private equity firm Benson Elliot Capital Management following the suspension by the French lender of its property financing activities.
James Jakeman, the former Lehman Brothers director who moved to Société Générale last September, has joined private equity firm Benson Elliot Capital Management following the suspension by the French lender of its property financing activities.
Jakeman will work alongside Phil Irons in directing Benson Elliot's UK activities. He was formerly SocGen's head of UK Real Estate, responsible for lending and debt investments. From 2000 to 2008 he was an executive director on the real estate principal investments team at Lehman Brothers, where he led transactions in the UK and internationally worth over EUR 2 bn. He began his real estate career in 1995 at Jones Lang LaSalle, where he qualified as a Chartered Surveyor.
Benson Elliot has also announced the appointment of Georg Strassner as director for the German-speaking markets. Strassner was previously managing director and head of Real Estate Management at Strategic Value Partners in Frankfurt, where he led a team of 12 real estate professionals responsible for managing a 180-asset, EUR 1.5 bn German property portfolio. Before that, he was Regional head, South, at Argoneo, the European real estate asset management arm of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing.
From 2003 to 2005 Strassner worked alongside Benson Elliot Managing Partner Marc Mogull at Doughty Hanson & Co Real Estate. At Benson Elliot he will partner with Philipp Braschel in directing the firm’s activities in German-speaking Europe.
Benson Elliot today comprises over two dozen professionals directing the firm’s investment and investment management activities in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Scandinavia and Central Europe.
