US private equity firm JER Partners is expanding its European operations with the launch of a new office in Prague. In a statement, the company said it has poached three directors from GE Real Estate who will focus on investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
US private equity firm JER Partners is expanding its European operations with the launch of a new office in Prague. In a statement, the company said it has poached three directors from GE Real Estate who will focus on investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Karim Habra, Christopher Zeuner and Petr Kosar will begin working at JER early this fall. At GE RE, they were responsible for growing the firm's real estate operations in the CEE region. Habra will join JER as managing director Central and Eastern Europe, while Zeuner will join as director and Kosar as vice president. Together they will be responsible for growing the Central and Eastern European business and working with commercial real estate partners and investors in the CEE region in particular: Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia and Turkey.
'Karim, Chris and Petr are seasoned executives with extensive commercial real estate experience, successful track records, and a vast network of contacts across Central and Eastern Europe,' stated Michael E. Pralle, president and COO of J.E. Robert Companies.
'This is a dynamic and pivotal time in JER's history,' added Malcolm Le May, president, Europe at JER Partners. 'We are in the midst of a significant period of accelerated growth with an expanded reach and greater diversity of investment vehicles.'
Most recently, Habra served as managing director, GE Real Estate Central & Eastern Europe. He moved to Prague in 2001 where he grew the business and built the team in Central & Eastern Europe which transacted on 80 retail, office, industrial and residential projects, for a total of $3bn, and four non-performing loan portfolios.
With GE Real Estate since 2004, Zeuner actively participated in more than $2 bn of transactions. Earlier in his career, Zeuner was head of Cushman & Wakefield's capital markets team in Poland. Kosar joined GE Capital in 2002, working in the US and UK. In 2004 he joined GE Real Estate and was based in Prague, during which time he has been responsible for the management and closing of ten transactions with a value in excess of $750 mln.
