Atrium European Real Estate, the CEE listed retail specialist controlled by Israel's Gazit-Globe, has appointed Ryan Lee as its new group chief financial officer.
Atrium European Real Estate, the CEE listed retail specialist controlled by Israel's Gazit-Globe, has appointed Ryan Lee as its new group chief financial officer.
He succeeds Soòa Hýbnerová, who is leaving the group after 10 years in order to pursue other business opportunities.
Lee will join the group on 2 February, with his appointment taking effect from 1 April - when Hýbnerová leaves the group - to ensure an orderly handover.
Lee, a chartered accountant with 24 years of international financial experience, joins from Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC), CEE’s largest spirit beverage business.
Prior to joining CEDC he spent over three years as vice president of finance at Eldorado and previously held various senior and board level financial roles over a 10-year period with Japan Tobacco International. He also spent 10 years at Unilever and its group subsidiaries in a number of senior financial roles across a number of different territories.
Lee joins Atrium at a key point in its history, commented Josip Kardun, group CEO. 'A number of strategic acquisitions and disposals position us strongly for further growth,' he noted.
Earlier this month, Gazit-Globe, Israel's largest real estate investment company, took control of Atrium with the acquisition of a 13.9% stake in an off-market deal worth €229 mln from a consortium managed by CPI CEE Management and controlled by US private equity group Apollo.
Gazit-Globe paid €4.4 per share for 52 million shares and raised its stake in Atrium to 54% on a diluted basis to become the sole controlling shareholder. The move means that Atrium's financial results will be consolidated into Gazit-Globe from the first quarter of 2015.
Atrium owns 151 shopping centres and retail properties across seven countries and with a market value of €2.5 bn. The company is based in Jersey and listed on the Vienna and Euronext Amsterdam stock exchanges.