JLL’s former CEO for Germany Timo Tschammler has founded a new advisory and board services firm, TwainTowers , which will offer strategic counsel in a consulting capacity as well as through the acceptance of board mandates.
The firm’s target clientele are German and international real estate companies spanning the entire spectrum of size and phase of company development, from start-up ventures to corporate groups.
‘It has been a long-standing wish of mine to help shape the future of the real estate industry on a more independent and entrepreneurial basis. I am looking forward to this new chapter in my professional career,’ said Timo Tschammler, who until recently served as CEO Germany and Member of the EMEA Strategy Board of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) with responsibility for more than 1000 staff, annual revenues of several hundred million euros, investment transactions of up to €10 bn annually, and the leasing of up to 600.000 m2 per year.
In an email statement to his business partners, friends and companions, Tschammler said: ‘I recently made the decision to retire from my 25-year corporate career to pursue my heartfelt desire for a new self-determined entrepreneurial vocation as investor, senior adviser and non-executive director.’
The last few months between leaving the company and the end of my contract have been eventful, to say the least, he added. ‘Covid-19 has a full stranglehold on world affairs and shattered my long-standing dream of a round-the-world tour together with my wife. In stark contrast, […] the most joyous news by far was the birth of our son in late September.’
Tschammler first announced in March that he would be leaving JLL in favour of ‘a new life chapter’. At JLL, he was replaced by Sabine Eckhardt, who was appointed as CEO Central Europe and Germany with effect from May 1, 2020.
New venture
As the name suggests (Twain is the Old English word for the number two), TwainTowers divides its advisory offerings into two business areas. Through the first of these, its Boards business, Tschammler will assume mandates in supervisory boards, advisory boards and other such company bodies, as well as in industry bodies and committees. ‘I see my role primarily in providing stability and guidance and in helping my clients to make the right strategic decisions with a long-term view,’ said Tschammler, managing partner and founder of TwainTowers.
The Counsel business area provides companies with access to the founder’s many years of industry and management experience as well as his extensive network. Particular areas of focus are in Business Development, Real Estate Strategies and Capital Strategies.
In addition to his counsel work for the executive board of the German Property Federation (ZIA), the leading German industry head association, Tschammler’s first clients already include companies within the areas of project development, private equity and investment management.
TwainTowers is based in Frankfurt and is a wholly owned subsidiary of London Gate, which has served as Tschammler's wealth management company since its founding in 2008. The company’s focus is on real estate investing, including participations in companies and development projects.
Before joining JLL in 2012, Tschammler headed the German business of DTZ Group (now Cushman & Wakefield) as chairman of the executive board, having first started in the international investment division in 2005, then subsequently serving as managing director from the company’s London headquarters. His earlier professional years were at Atisreal (now BNP Paribas Real Estate) in Germany and France, where he ultimately became chair of the company’s international investment committee and director of the international investment team in France.
