German fund Union Investment Real Estate has appointed Thorsten Purkus as head of its asset management hospitality international team as of June 1.
The appointment is part of a reorganisation of the firm's hotel division, which saw the arrival of Yvonne Brabant last year as head of the asset management hospitality Germany team.
According to Union Investment, both executives report to departmental manager Martin Schaller, who has been in overall charge of the asset management hospitality segment at the business for five years.
'As a result of our growing hotel portfolio and the increasing challenges around successful management of our hotel properties in a demanding market environment, we have split our asset management hospitality unit into two teams,' Schaller said.
'Yvonne Brabant and Thorsten Purkus are ideally equipped to lead these teams. In addition to their business administration qualifications, they both have long experience in hotel operation and managing hotel properties. Together with their teams, they will continue to ensure the long-term success of our hotel investments.'
Purkus has a degree in business administration and over 20 years of experience in the international hotel sector. Between 2002 and 2016, he held a variety of roles in the Hyatt Group. Purkus was then in charge of asset management at Munich Hotel Partners and most recently served as managing partner at PVP Hospitality in Zurich.
At Union Investment, he is responsible for managing 31 hotels across seven European countries (excluding Germany) and the US. His first task will be overseeing the imminent opening of the Holiday Inn hotel in Gdansk and of the Thompson Hotel in Washington DC.
Union Investment's hotels portfolio currently includes 75 assets worth approximately €4.3 bn across nine countries, with a focus on the German market, where it has 44 hotels. The firm recently revealed plans to broaden its international hospitality holdings.
