JLL has appointed Gustav Bjoern to the new position of head of hotel investment banking for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

JLL has appointed Gustav Bjoern to the new position of head of hotel investment banking for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Bjoern will report to Chris Holmes, head of EMEA debt advisory and Jon Hubbard, head of investor services EMEA in the Hotels & Hospitality Group.

Bjoern has over 20 years of experience in European and North American hotel property operations, advisory and banking. His experience includes five years as a vice-president in the hotel finance specialist team at Aareal Bank where he advised and lent on transactions in excess of $3 bn (€2.3 bn).

These deals include €367 mln of senior debt financing for Starwood Capital refinancing the Concorde Portfolio in Paris, Nice and Cannes, and £100 mln for Morgans Hotel Group and Walton St refinancing the Sanderson and St. Martins Lane hotels in London.

Chris Holmes said: 'Gustav will have a tight focus on our hotel real estate debt financing service which covers the entire capital stack across all segments. This role is a new joint venture for the JLL EMEA corporate finance team and Hotels & Hospitality Group which will enable clients to benefit from the extensive reach and resources available in both teams.'

Jon Hubbard added: 'With hotel investor sentiment strong and expectations of accelerating trading growth across EMEA, there is increased competition to provide senior and junior debt. Gustav’s appointment is perfectly aligned with our strategy to enhance our service offering for clients to allow them to maximise returns at this exciting time for our industry.'