Real Estate Investment Manager Vengrove has taken the first step in its pan-European expansion, with the opening of its first permanent European office, located in Munich, Germany. The office will be headed by Korbinian Kirchner, who joins as Partner & Head of Germany.
Korbinian is a highly experienced leader with an excellent track record in the German investment market with previous roles as a Director at CapitaLand, as well as Senior Vice President at Valor Real Estate Partners.
Vengrove’s initial primary focus in Germany will be industrial and logistics, with plans to expand its other existing operationally-driven real estate investment strategies in the coming years.
Germany was the preferred first location given its long-held position as Europe’s largest economy and the maturity of the real estate investment market, but also the recent lowering of the barriers to entry and re-pricing of assets as a result of the wider Eurozone slowdown, along with more acute local economic factors. Coupled with this is the prior German experience of the Vengrove investment team, led by Partner & Head of Investment, Will Hunting.
Vengrove's vision for its growth in Europe is to build a fully-integrated operator with local teams in each European jurisdiction, which is a differentiated approach to many Pan-European managers, which adopt an allocator model of working with local operating partners. All acquisitions, asset management and development will be carried out by the local team, with the London office taking responsibility for middle and back office.
Ross Taylor, CEO, comments: “It's an exciting time for the business as we enter the European market for the first time since being founded in 2013. Having experienced how hard it is to build a vertically-integrated investment manager in the UK, we don't underestimate the challenge of opening our first office in Germany, but we are looking forward to it. We are really pleased to welcome Korbinian as a Partner & Head of Germany who will be responsible for the German business and lead on our value-add industrial and logistics strategy.”
Korbinian adds: “I am delighted to join Vengrove as I wanted to be part of an organisation that was proactively trying to grow its footprint and is willing to invest the time and the resources to do so. Having experienced a meaningful correction across Europe over the last couple of years, the market now enters the next phase offering untapped potential across a range of German markets.”