Eastdil Secured has poached one of the UK’s top real estate investment bankers.
Max von Hurter, director at Lazard, is joining the Wells Fargo-owned firm to bolster its ability to advise on large corporate transactions and public company merger and acquisitions.
He joins as a managing director after seven years with Lazard and is likely to start in October following a period of gardening leave.
He previously worked at Credit Suisse for almost eight years as a vice president alongside Ian Marcus, was then chairman of the Swiss bank’s European real estate business before moving to Eastdil as a senior adviser.
During his time at Lazard, von Hurter has advised on deals including Ballymore’s tie-up with EcoWorld, Patron Capital’s sale of Generator Hostels and Hammerson’s purchase of the Irish loan portfolio Project Jewel.
Eastdil has advised on some of the largest corporate deals in Europe over the past two years, including the €12.25bn (£10.8bn) sale of Logicor for Blackstone and the €2.4bn sale of P3 by Ivanhoé Cambridge and TPG.
It is now looking to win more market share from the UK’s most active independent investment banks in the property market, Lazard and Rothschild.
In the US it is common for Eastdil to advise on listed sector mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and bond issuances on its own.
This is possible as it has a distribution network through Wells Fargo, but in Europe is does not have this function, meaning it still needs to team up with traditional investment banks on listed sector deals.
Von Hurter’s arrival follows that of Robert Weinberg, who joined Eastdil as a managing director in March to focus on structured finance and work alongside managing director and debt specialist Riaz Azadi.
Lazard’s nine-strong UK real estate team, which focuses on mergers and acquisitions, continues to be led by managing director Patrick Long, alongside director Philip Chapman.
Its UK chief executive, William Rucker, the former chairman of Quintain and Crest Nicholson, also continues to be highly involved in the business.
Lazard also has a real estate presence throughout Europe with a team of around 25, including managing directors Giacomo Liberti in Milan and Christian Straube in Frankfurt.
It has most recently advised Hammerson on its proposed purchase of intu and its defence against Klépierre’s own takeover approach, the €4.4bn disposal of 55% of Accor Invest and is advising Beni Stabili on its proposed €15bn merger with FdR.
James Jacobs leads the real estate function of the bank’s private fund advisory group, which is best known for raising equity for some of world’s largest private equity fund managers.
To send feedback, e-mail david.hatcher@egi.co.uk or tweet @hatcherdavid or @estatesgazette
