Citigroup has lost its chief real estate analyst Mike Prew to Lehman Brothers.
However, despite rumours to the contrary, Citigroup has managed to retain its France based analyst Philippe Le Trung and is understood to be in negotiations with Chet Riley about his future at the bank.
A source said: “There is a lot of movement within the real estate sector at the moment as the banks gear up for an anticipated upturn in activity in the property sector.
“The head hunters are on the phone a lot.”
As well as following the majority of major European listed property companies Citigroup are brokers for Hammerson, Brixton and Minerva among others and act as retained advisors for Land Securities.
Sources said this was the first time in recent memory that Lehman Brothers had tried to develop a serious presence in the European real estate broking market.
References: EGi News 22/03/06
