Globalworth Real Estate Investments Ltd.
GWI:LN
Overview
Company Profile
Globalworth is a leading real estate company with a primary focus on Poland and Romania, the two largest markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The company acquires, develops and manages commercial real estate assets, primarily in the office sector, with the objective of being the landlord of choice for the broad and growing variety of multinational corporations in the region. Globalworth has an internal team of over 110 professionals located in Romania and in Poland, through its subsidiary Globalworth Poland (GPRE), and has an overall real estate portfolio valued at approximately €2 billion.
Classification
Financials
Corporate
Board of Directors
Ioannis Papalekas
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Founder of Globalworth, Ioannis Papalekas has nearly 20 years of real estate investment and development experience, predominantly in Romania, having created one of the most successful real estate development and investment groups in the Romanian real estate market. He has significant experience in the acquisition, master planning, development, reconstruction, refurbishment, operation and asset management of land and buildings across all major asset classes in Romania. Before founding Globalworth, Ioannis was responsible for the acquisition, development and successful disposal of more than 400,000sqm of commercial (office, retail and logistics) space and 1,000 residential units in Romania.
Dimitris Raptis
Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Dimitris Raptis joined Globalworth in November 2012, following 15 years of experience in the financial services and real estate investment management industries with Deutsche Bank. The last 12 years were spent as a senior member of the real estate investment management group of Deutsche Bank's Asset and Wealth Management division ("RREEF"). From 2008 to 2012, Dimitris was Managing Director and European Head of Portfolio Management for RREEF Opportunistic Investments ("ROI"). In this role, he was responsible for overseeing ROI's acquisitions across Europe, as well as managing ROI's pan-European real estate investment portfolio consisting of 40 investments with a gross asset value in excess of €6bn. From 2000 to 2008, Dimitris was a senior member of the team responsible for originating, structuring and executing real estate investments, with a main focus on the French, Italian and South-Eastern European markets with an enterprise value in excess of €5.5bn across all major asset classes.
Geoff Miller
Independent Non-Executive Director
Geoff Miller spent over 20 years in research and fund management in the UK, specializing in the finance sector, before moving offshore. He first moved to Moscow and from there to Singapore before becoming a Guernsey resident in 2011. He was formerly a number one rated UK mid and small-cap financials analyst, covering investment banks, asset managers, insurance vehicles, investment companies and real estate companies. Geoff is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Afaafa, a business which provides investment and consultancy services to early-stage companies focused on the financials and technology sectors. He is also a Director for a number of private companies.
Eli Alroy
Independent Non-Executive Director, Senior Independent Director
Eli Alroy has extensive international experience in real estate investment and project management. From 1994 to 2012, Eli was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Globe Trade Centre S.A. (“GTC”), traded on the Warsaw stock exchange. Eli received a BSc in Civil Engineering from the Technion in Israel (Cum Laude) and an MSc from Stanford University in the USA. In 2010, Eli was honored with the prestigious CEEQA Real Estate Lifetime Achievement award, sponsored by the Financial Times, for his commitment to the real estate industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
Akbar Rafiq
Independent Non-Executive Director
Akbar Rafiq serves as a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Head of Europe Credit at York Capital Management. Akbar joined York Capital Management in June 2011 and is a Partner of York Capital Management Europe (UK) Advisors LLP. Akbar is a CoͲPortfolio Manager of the York European Distressed Credit funds. From 2007 to 2011, Akbar worked as a Vice President and Senior Distressed Debt Analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, London. Previously, Akbar held various positions in the investment banking division at Bear, Stearns and Co. Inc. From 2000 to 2003, Akbar worked as an Associate for a private equity firm, Alta Communications.
Alexis Atteslis
Independent Non-Executive Director
Alexis Atteslis serves as a Managing Director at Oak Hill Advisors with senior responsibility for European investments. He has more than 12 years of experience in the finance industry, having previously worked at Deutsche Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He received an MA from the University of Cambridge and has earned a Chartered Accountant qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Andreea Petreanu
Independent Non-Executive Director
Andreea Petreanu is currently Head of Credit Risk Management at Mizuho International in London. Over the past 16 years, Andreea has had various risk management roles with global investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and VTB Capital. Andreea’s educational background includes an Executive MBA from the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School and an MSc in Insurance and Risk Management from City University, CASS Business School. She is also an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute in London.
Norbert Sasse
Non-Executive Director
Norbert Sasse is Chief Executive Officer of Growthpoint. He has 10 years’ experience in corporate finance with Ernst & Young Corporate Advisory (in South Africa and London) and Investec Corporate Finance (in South Africa). Norbert was instrumental in growing Growthpoint from a listed property fund having assets of ZAR 100 million and a market capitalization of ZAR 30 million in 2001 to South Africa’s largest listed property company with assets of over ZAR 112 billion and a market capitalization of ZAR 73 billion as at January 2017. Norbert led Growthpoint’s first offshore investment in Australia in 2009 by investing AUD200 million in Orchard Industrial Fund and subsequently renamed Growthpoint Properties Australia, (“GOZ”) a property company that was facing foreclosure. With a market capitalization of AUD250 million following the recapitalization of the company by Growthpoint, GOZ has now grown to a market cap of AUD2 billion. He was also involved in establishing the Association of Property Loan Stock Companies (PLS Association), which has subsequently been renamed SAREIT (South African Real Estate Association). Norbert holds a BCom and Honours degree in Accounting from Rand Afrikaans University and is a Chartered Accountant.
Peter Fechter
Independent Non-Executive Director
Peter Fechter has deeply embedded entrepreneurial experiences of all aspects of the property space. After graduating as a civil engineer in 1968, he worked in South Africa as a site agent and tendering estimator, becoming CEO of a large private construction company in 1978. He formed his own business in 1980 which successfully engaged in general contracting and doing its own property developments for sale and selective own investment. After 20 years, Peter’s business was voluntarily closed, with the property portfolio being sold to an IPO company. When this company merged with Growthpoint Properties in 2003, he was appointed as non-executive director of Growthpoint, serving on the audit and risk committees and as chairman of the property investment committee, all resulting in regular and close involvement in a merger, acquisition and investment deals in South Africa and Australia.
George Muchanya
Non-Executive Director
George Muchanya is responsible for Corporate Strategy at Growthpoint and is a member of the Executive Committee. After spending his initial career years as an engineer, George made a career change into banking in 2000 where he worked in retail product development, treasury and investment banking both in South Africa and UK. This was followed by a brief period at a global management consulting firm. George joined Growthpoint in 2005, where he focuses largely on mergers and acquisitions. The period since he joined saw Growthpoint concluding transformational transactions including the expansion of Growthpoint into Australia, the acquisition of the iconic V&A in Cape Town, single and large property portfolio acquisitions, and the consolidation, through mergers and acquisitions, by Growthpoint of the South African listed property sector. George played an integral part in this transformation and was part of the front line deal negotiation and execution team. George holds a BSc in Engineering from the University of Natal, MBA from Wales University, a certificate in Corporate Finance from the London Business School as well as a leadership certificate from Harvard Business School.
Richard van Vliet
Independent Non-Executive Director
Richard van Vliet is qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa, England and Wales. On leaving Price Waterhouse in South Africa, he became the sole proprietor of an audit practice in Johannesburg, with work that focused on international mergers and acquisitions, taxation and financial structures. From 1995 until mid-1997, he also represented the Jersey General Group, an offshore investment group of companies in Johannesburg. He relocated to Guernsey in August 1997 as a founding member of Cannon Asset Management Limited and is now the managing director. He currently holds the chairmanship of The Cubic Property Fund, a Channel Islands Securities Exchange-listed fund, and a number of board positions on companies and investment funds exposed to property, equity and alternative investments. He also held the position of the main board member of Thames River Capital Holdings Limited, a fund management company with USD 9bn prior to its disposal.
Bruce Buck
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr Buck has been practicing law in Europe since 1983, and was Managing Partner in Europe and latterly Of Counsel for law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, until retiring from this role in July 2017.Mr Buck has been involved in work in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990, comprising a broad range of mergers, acquisitions and capital markets transactions, including IPOs and high-yield transactions. Mr Buck is the Chairman and a Director of Chelsea FC PLC, and also Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of Petropavlovsk PLC.