Cushman & Wakefield has hired Deutsche Bank's head of commercial real estate, Frank Nickel, as a partner and managing director of its operations in Germany.

Cushman & Wakefield has hired Deutsche Bank's head of commercial real estate, Frank Nickel, as a partner and managing director of its operations in Germany.

Nickel has been head of Deutsche Bank's commercial property arm in Frankfurt since 2006. In this role he was responsible for establishing and building the financing business and overseeing commercial real estate financing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

He was also involved in equity investments in real estate companies as well as the acquisition of NPL portfolios from German banks.

Nickel previously held senior positions with Fortress Investment Group Germany, GMAC RFC Europe and CreditWeb Deutschland.

Cushman & Wakefield's German operation comprises 180 staff in five offices in Frankfurt, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich. The firm has hired 50 professionals in Germany since the start of the year.