Paul Graham, the former EMEA head of real estate at DHL Group, the world’s leading 3PL provider, has joined Gramercy Europe as non-executive chairman, effective immediately.
His appointment follows last week’s announcement that Gramercy Europe management had completed the acquisition of the business from The Blackstone Group. Having closed on €350 mln of acquisitions since the start of 2018, the team expects to increase that to over €500 mln by year end. Gramercy expects to have the final close of a new vehicle during Q1 2019 with €400 mln of equity commitments.
Graham is one of the best known industrial and logistics property figures in Europe with more than 30 years of UK and European real estate and logistics work behind him.
At DHL he headed up an 80 strong team covering the Europe, the Middle East and Africa markets and was responsible for approximately 3,000 facilities under management in 100-plus countries and an annual capex budget of over €1 bn.
Prior to joining DHL in 2006, he headed up Exel’s development activities in the EMEA region, a role that was substantially expanded following its merger with Ocean Group in 2002, the acquisition of Tibbett & Britten in 2004 and the subsequent acquisition of Exel by DHL in late 2005.
He brought the curtain down on his DHL career at the end of September and was recently awarded the Industrial Agents Society (IAS) Award for Outstanding Contribution, recognizing his exceptional service to the real estate sector.
Alistair Calvert, CEO of Gramercy Europe, said, ‘Paul’s appointment is a significant coup for the business and a strong endorsement of our strategy. Having run real estate for DHL, the dominant 3PL in Europe, he brings a unique and invaluable perspective to our team as we expand our business. Paul will be deeply involved in our long-term investment strategy while also serving as an ambassador of the brand and a trusted mentor to our growing team.’
Graham, as incoming chairman, added: ‘Gramercy Europe has been one of the continent’s best performing and most active fund managers, not just in the logistics space but across all commercial use classes. Following the management buyout I am pleased to join the team and look forward to contributing to the future success of Gramercy Europe.’
