Pan-European private equity real estate investor Deutsche Finance International (DFI) has opened a new office in Madrid and appointed Juan Gomez Vega as investment director for Southern Europe.
According to DFI, the new role has been created to facilitate the further growth of the firm's activity across the region.
Vega, who will run the new Madrid office, has over 15 years of experience in real estate debt and equity investment and asset management across Europe, the US and South America. He joins DFI after almost four years at Neinor Homes, where he was chief capital markets officer and responsible for the execution of its €1.3 bn IPO on the Madrid Stock Exchange.
Vega said: 'This is a fantastic opportunity to join a top pan-European team with a solid track record and an already remarkable presence in Southern Europe. I expect that, from the newly established Madrid office, I will be able to contribute to the growth of the firm as the region recovers from the current crisis.'
Vega was formerly a director at Lone Star Spain, and chief executive of Vilamoura World, a major residential development opportunity in Portugal wholly owned by Lone Star funds. He also spent four years working in London with Deutsche Bank-RREEF.
In Spain, DFI has recently acquired a seed portfolio of residential rental properties across Spain, as part of a larger platform strategy; an off-market special situation investment into several prime residential development projects in the Costa Del Sol; and two office assets, in Lisbon’s central business district. These transactions are in addition to DFI’s continued investment into the Spanish residential rental sector through the Elix Vintage Residencial Socimi.
Gavin Neilan, co-founder and co-managing partner at DFI said: 'Southern Europe is a primary investment market for us and, having already assembled a significant portfolio in Spain and Portugal, we have a strong foundation to expand our activities across the region where we see significant value potential, which we believe will be amplified by market dislocation in the short to medium term.
'Juan is a highly experienced real estate professional, with an in-depth knowledge of southern European markets and precisely the right skillset to help DFI reach its ambitions.'
DFI closed its inaugural fund, DFI European Value-Add Fund in July 2019 and raised approximately €800 mln of equity in total including related co-investment transactions. The firm said it was exploring bringing forward new value add strategies.
Since 2017, DFI has committed to over €2 bn of value add and select opportunistic investments across six markets in Europe, including London’s Olympia Exhibition Centre and several investments in Spain and Portugal.
