Union Investment Real Estate has appointed Benjamin Walter as senior investment manager in its investment management hospitality team headed by Andreas Löcher.
'Ten out of 13 of Union Investment’s actively managed real estate funds have the option of investing in hotels, and hotel properties remain high on our fund managers’ wish lists. We are therefore delighted to have additional support for our team from Benjamin Walter, not least to help drive forward the international expansion of our hotel portfolio,' Löcher commented.
According to the firm, the appointment is part of a drive to expand its global hotel portfolio.
Prior to joining Union Investment, Walter worked at Aareal Bank in Wiesbaden for some 13 years, where he served as director of the hotel financing division from 2015. He has degrees from the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and Mannheim Business School in partnership with ESSEC Business School Paris.
During his time at Aareal Bank, Walter was involved in the North American, European and Asian markets. Overall, he supervised the financing of hotel properties totalling €2.5 bn, with a focus on Canada and Europe.
Union Investment's hotel portfolio in Europe and the US currently comprises 68 properties with a total value of more than €5.5 bn. Recent transactions include the acquisition of the Hyatt House/Hyatt Place in Charleston (USA), a Premier Inn/Hub by Premier Inn in Edinburgh and the purchase of a hotel portfolio developed by benchmark Real Estate in Germany at locations in Dresden, Oberhausen, Eschborn near Frankfurt and Freiburg im Breisgau.
