Speakers | Is the Polish Market Ready for REITs and why the answer is YES!

Sandrine Berbel, Corporate Tax Director, Unibail-Rodamco

She has more than 15 years’ experience in the real estate sector through various positions held at Archon Group France (Goldman Sachs Group) as in-house tax counsel, PwC where she provided tax advice to international real estate investors, General Electric Capital Real Estate as tax director for Western Europe following which she joined Unibail-Rodamco in 2014. Sandrine holds a master’s degree in business law and a post graduate qualification in tax law. She is a lawyer admitted to the French bar.

Philip Charls, CEO, European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA)

Philip Charls started out his career as a lawyer specialising in European Competition Law. Moving to ING for almost 25 years working both sides of the Atlantic in the highest management capacities, Philip’s experience took him to the Brussels-based Dutch Chamber of Commerce for Belgium and Luxembourg as General Manager. He then joined the European Public Real Estate Association as CEO in 2007, which has since grown and developed into a strong research and lobbying body having offices in Brussels, London and Hong Kong.

Blaise Philippe Chaumont, Partner, De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés

Blaise Philippe Chaumont is involved in mergers & acquisitions and tax law, particularly in regards to the legal, financial and tax structuring of transactions on behalf of French and international clients in the industry, service or real estate sectors. As a former senior civil servant and banker, throughout his career he has developed broad expert knowledge and skills as well as recognised expertise in international tax and real estate law. Blaise Philippe Chaumont spent more than 10 years in the Ministry of Economy and Finance where he held various top level positions within the minister’s private office and in the tax administration. He served as tax policy advisor to Mrs. Christine Lagarde and Mr. Eric Woerth, as deputy chief of staff to Mr. François Baroin and as chief of staff to Mrs. Valérie Pécresse. Blaise Philippe Chaumont also worked as a banker in London at the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Blaise Philippe Chaumont graduated from Sciences Po (Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, 1994), is a former student of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (National School of Administration, 1999) and holds a Master’s degree (DESS-DJCE) in Business Law from Cergy University. He is a member of the International Fiscal Association.

Bartosz Clemenz, Partner, Greenberg Trauirig

Bartosz Clemenz is a Partner at Greenberg Traurig’s Warsaw Office with almost 20 years of experience in real estate transactions. He focuses his practice on representing major investors in large real estate acquisitions and development projects in the office, warehouse, residential and retail sectors. Moreover, Bartosz is involved in works on Polish REIT legislation, as well as in landmark PPP projects in Poland. His current projects involve representing major investors in large sale and purchase transactions on the Polish market. Bartosz recently represented, Amstar, a US-based real estate private equity fund, and BBI Development, a Warsaw-based developer, in connection with the bulk sale of 72 residential units in Złota 44 building to German fund Catella, which is believed to be the largest bulk sale of residential units in Central European history. Bartosz also represented Blackstone in several acquisitions of retail and logistics assets in Poland; Skanska in acquisitions and sales of real properties; Griffin in the acquisition of office buildings, Rockspring in the sale of office buildings; and TFI PZU in acquisitions of logistics real properties. Bartosz is a member of the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Warsaw and the New York State Bar Association. Individual awards and recognition: Chambers Europe: “up-and-coming” in Real Estate (2013-2015), Band 4 in Real Estate (2016), Best Lawyers: recommended in Real Estate (2016).

Maciej Drozd, Board Member I CFO, Echo Polska Properties

Prior to joining EPP Maciej managed finances as the deputy CEO at Echo Investment S.A., one of Poland’s largest investment and development companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Maciej started his professional career in 1995 at Eastbridge Group, a Luxembourg-based private investment fund that manages over €1.5 billion in assets within the retail, consumer goods, and real estate sectors. Maciej oversaw financial operations of selected subsidiaries within the group, and was promoted to CFO and Managing Partner in 2009. Maciej graduated from University of Warsaw with a master’s degree in Philosophy and Management, and received his MBA from the University of Illinois.

Maciej Grabski, CEO, Olivia Business Center

Maciej Grabski is one of the most dynamic investors and business organizers in Pomerania. One of the authors of the success of Wirtualna Polska SA, its first investor and member of the management board responsible for business development. The activity area of Maciej Grabski also includes the acquisition of undervalued production companies and the initiation of restructuring activities. Maciej Grabski is the founder of the Olivia Business Centre, the largest business and office centre of that class in Poland beyond Warsaw. This key investment in the real estate market in Pomerania is changing the image of Gdańsk and the entire Gdańsk metropolis.

Marcin Juszczyk, Member of the Management Board, Capital Park Group

Marcin Juszczyk is Member of the Management Board of Capital Park Group with 12 years of professional experience in the real estate sector. He has played strategic roles in Capital Park since its formation in 2003, starting as CFO and then as Head of Investment Department since 2006. Capital Park Group is one of the leading and most dynamic property companies in the Polish market, particularly active in the office and retail sectors, has an attractive property portfolio consisting of 75 assets located in 36 cities and is listed on WSE since 2013. During his career Marcin took part in over 100 transactions involving properties all across Poland, secured over €600m in bank financing and raised over €100m in bonds and shares issues on Polish capital market. Before joining Capital Park, Marcin Juszczyk was CFO in Communication One Group / Call Center Poland SA – a leading Polish call/contact center outsourcing group. Until 2001 he worked as management and information systems consultant and project leader. He holds FCCA title by international Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and MSc in Information Systems and Econometrics from Cracow University of Economics.

Dorian Kelberg, Executive President, Federation Des Societes Immobilieres Et Foncieres (F.S.I.F.)

Director of the French real estate association FSIF (Fédération des Sociétés Immobilières et Foncières) since 2000. Kelberg sits on the board of various committees related to real estate, notably COPI and CEFI. Professor at the Institute of economic and legal studies applied to construction and housing (ICH) in Paris, Kelberg authoured a number of books.

Marek Kozaczuk, Partner, Greenberg Traurig

Marek Kozaczuk is a Partner at Greenberg Traurig’s Warsaw Office and Head of the Warsaw Tax Practice. He focuses his practice on tax law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, tax controversy and litigation. Marek represented, inter alia, Alior Bank in the acquisition of Bank BPH’s core business from affiliates of GE Capital; PKO BP Bank in the acquisition of Nordea Bank Poland, Nordea Life and Nordea Finance; Budimex in connection with the sale of Budimex Danwood; and the Joint Global Coordinators: Citigroup Global Markets Limited, DM BH, Société Générale, UBS and Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, as well as the Joint Bookrunners: DM PKO BP, DI BRE, DM BZ WBK and Wood&Co in the IPO of Polski Holding Nieruchomości on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Marek is a member of the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Warsaw and the National Chamber of Tax Advisors. Individual awards and recognition: EMEA Legal 500: leading lawyer in Tax (2013-2016), Chambers Europe: Band 2 in Tax (2015-2016), Band 3 in Tax (2011-2014), Chambers Global: Band 2 in Tax (2015), Band 3 in Tax (2011-2014), Best Lawyers: recommended in Tax (2014, 2016).

Bruno Lunghi, Partner, France Real Estate Tax Leader

Bruno has been a Real Estate Tax Partner at PwC Société d’Avocats, law firm member of the PwC Tax & Legal network for more than 17 years. He is a tax lawyer who specializes in providing tax advice for large, multinational clients, structuring transactions and holdings in the commercial real estate and hospitality sectors. Bruno is the head of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for PwC France and also leads the Real Estate Tax and Legal practice for PwC Société d’Avocats. He is also member of the Regulatory and Tax Commission of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) and of the Fédération des Sociétés Immobilières et Foncières (FSIF - organization promoting the French publicly listed REITs).Bruno has extensive professional experience in transactions involving acquisitions of real estate, asset deals and share deals, setting up of regulated/non regulated RE funds and listed RE entities, real estate outsourcing operations for French and international groups, structuring of financing/refinancing and raising of funds. Finally, Bruno excels in designing efficient financing structure and drafting secure debt push down strategies, including tax efficient structure for SWF and RE funds in France, Europe and Africa.

Hans Op 't Veld, Head of Listed Real Estate / PGGM

Hans Op ‘t Veld is Head of Listed Real Estate and a member of the Private Markets Management Team of PGGM. He is the Fund Manager of the PGGM Global Listed Real Estate Securities Fund, which has assets under management of approximately US$ 15 bn.. Furthermore, he is a Research Fellow at the Amsterdam School of Real Estate. He has over twenty years of experience in global real estate securities markets. Hans has a background in real estate investment, strategy, allocation and performance measurement in international perspective. Hans was Partner at Global Property Research (GPR), a company specialised in strategy consulting, benchmarking and performance measurement of listed real estate securities from its start in 1996. In this capacity he structured the GPR General and GPR 250 indices for listed property securities. In 2001 he joined Kempen & Co’s corporate finance practice in Amsterdam with a focus on transactions of real estate companies. Subsequently he was employed by IPD in London as of 2003. In his role as Head of Property Vehicles, his responsibilities included the management of the UK AREF indices and the development of the European INREV indices for non-listed real estate funds. In 2007, Op ’t Veld joined PGGM. Hans is Co-Chair of the European Investment Advisory Committee, an investor-led committee focused on the improvement of governance and transparency in the European real estate securities market as well as a Board Member of EPRA. Furthermore, he serves on a number of committees of the regional trade organisations for real estate securities around the world (APREA, EPRA and NAREIT) with a special focus on transparency and sustainability. Hans holds an MSc. in Financial Economics from the Maastricht University and is a PhD Candidate at Tilburg University / TIAS on the topic of global REIT markets.

Ulf Pleschiutschnig, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley

Ulf Pleschiutschnig is a Managing Director with MSREI, the real estate investing platform of Morgan Stanley. Ulf heads MSREI’s efforts in CEE, Austria, the Netherlands, and the Nordics. From 2010 to 2013 he was European Portfolio Manager of the $2.7bn Morgan Stanley Real Estate Special Situations Fund III, responsible for investments in property and hotel companies in Europe and held board seats in Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland and Russia. Ulf holds a degree in chemical engineering from TUG, Austria, and earned a doctorate in finance at University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Juan de Porras Aguirre – Board Member at Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., Head of Global Corporate Banking

Juan de Porras Aguirre has been working in banking since 1989. In January 2007, he joined Banco Santander as Managing Director of Global Banking & Markets (now Global Corporate Banking). Since November 2010, Juan de Porras Aguirre has been managing the Division of Global Corporate Banking at Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. He also serves as a member of the Management Board of BZ WBK S.A. Juan de Porras Aguirre graduated from Universidad de Granada with a master’s degree in law and received a diploma in Business Administration from Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas in Barcelona. He also completed the Investment Banking Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Jacek Radziwilski, President, Pekao IB

Jacek Radziwilski has been working at UniCredit Group since 2003. In 2010 he was appointed as CEO of UniCredit CAIB Poland. Prior to that, he was the Vice-President of the Management Board responsible for M&A and ECM transactions. During 2003-2008 he was a Member of the Management Board and Managing Director at CDM Pekao S.A. (UniCredit Group) responsible for investment banking and brokerage activities. From 1995 to 2003, he worked at international financial institutions: Arthur Andersen, HSBC, Deutsche Bank. In 2003-2004 he was a Member of the Supervisory Board of Grupa Kety and Pelion. During his career in investment banking in the Emerging Europe region, spanning over 20 years to date, Jacek Radziwilski advised many companies in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Turkey and Israel as well as investors from Europe and the United States. He advised in a number of capital markets transactions - e.g. IPOs and ABBs of Wirtualna Polska, Alumetal, Cyfrowy Polsat, GTC, PGE, Bank Pekao, TVN. Jacek was also involved in M&A transactions of: Novago/China Everbright, PKP Energetyka/CVC,Wirtualna Polska/GrupaO2, Smyk/Bridgepoint, Polfa Pabianice/Adamed, TU Europa/Talanx, Empik Media & Fasion/Penta. Jacek Radziwilski graduated with honours from the University of Economics in Poznan and IESE Business School.

Rafał Sieński, Partner, Greenberg Traurig

Rafał Sieński is a Partner at Greenberg Traurig’s Warsaw Office with almost 20 years of experience. He focuses his practice on commercial and civil law, with an emphasis on securities, company law and privatization related matters. Rafał participated in the largest and most complex equity and debt transactions completed in Poland. He represented, inter alia, PZU S.A. in its PLN 8 billion IPO on the WSE; PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. in its PLN 6 billion IPO on the WSE; and Energa S.A. in the PLN 2.4 billion IPO on the WSE. Recently Rafał represented Bank Pocztowy in connection with the first issue of the Bank’s bonds, part of the public bond issuance program for individual investors with an aggregated value amounting to PLN 1 billion, as well as Atlantik in connection with the cross-border reorganization of the Pfleiderer Group, which was based on a reverse takeover structure, where Pfleiderer GmbH. was acquired by Pfleiderer Grajewo S.A. with the proceeds from the public offering of shares in Pfleiderer Grajewo S.A. Rafał is a member of the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Warsaw. Individual awards and recognition: Chambers Global: Band 3 in Capital Markets (2015-2016), Band 4 in Capital Markets Equity (2014), Chambers Europe: Band 3 in Capital Markets Equity (2015-2016), Band 4 in Capital Markets Equity (2010-2014), IFLR1000: leading lawyer in Capital Markets (2011-2017) and Banking (2016-2017), EMEA Legal 500: recommended lawyer in Capital markets Debt (2013), Best Lawyers: recommended in Capital Markets (2014, 2016).

Tomasz Tondera, Senior Partner, Griffin Real Estate

He is an expert in property finance and investment market. He has gained over 10 year experience in banking sector, achieved at management positions in Commercial Real Estate as well as Project Finance areas. He used to be Project Manager at BPH Real Estate SA. Earlier Tomasz was working for TDI (Towarzystwo Doradztwa Inwestycyjnego), involved in corporate finance, companies evaluations, restructuring and privatization of State Treasury enterprises. Tomasz graduated Warsaw School of Economics. Since 2007 Tomasz is a member of Griffin team. He participated in arranging and closing of Griffin Property Finance Fund, the first mezzanine financing platform, dedicated solely to the real estate market. Within Griffin platform Tomasz is in charge of entire office portfolio, including deal originating, acquisitions together with optimization of financing structure as well as proactive asset management contributing to the value of the portfolio.

Ruud Vogelaar, Group Director of Tax, Unibail-Rodamco

Ruud Vogelaar is Group Director of Tax at Unibail-Rodamco, based in Schiphol (Netherlands). He is a qualified Dutch CPA and has a degree in Law from the Dutch Open University. He worked at the Dutch tax authorities for nearly 17 years, the bigger part of that working within the insurance industry. After that, he worked for some 8 ½ years as an in-house tax counsel at a family office in Amsterdam, in which role he was mainly involved in real estate investments. He joined Rodamco Europe in December 2006, and is Group Director of Tax at Unibail-Rodamco since the merger between Rodamco and Unibail in June 2007.

Witold Zatoński, Founding Partner, Syrena Real Estate

Prior to co-founding Syrena, between 2007 and 2015, Management Board Member of Warsaw exchange listed GTC responsible for new investment and legal affairs. Areas of responsibility included project acquisition, development, asset management and exits, transaction and financing structuring, as well as supervision of all corporate, legal and stock exchange (IR) related matters. He was directly involved in dozens of projects in Poland and CEE with a total NLA of over 1 million sqm with a GAV of over EUR 2 billion. Previously, Witold worked as a Senior Associate for Weil, Gotshal and Manges in New York and Warsaw, focusing on M&A and Capital Markets. He was involved in transactions such as PZU privatization, CEZ acquisitions in Poland, Netia listing on NASDAQ, and disposal of EUR 1bn Polish assets by Casino Group. Witold holds a LL. M. degree from University of Warsaw(1998) and Columbia University Law School (1999). He also attended real estate executive courses at Harvard Business School and holds Certificate in English and European Law from Cambridge University and University of Warsaw. Admitted to legal practice in NY (2000) and Poland (2004). He is fluent in Polish and English, has a working knowledge of German and Russian. Additional interests include history and political science. Committed long distance runner and skier. Married, father of three.

Venue & Date

2016, Nov. 24th

Sofitel Victoria Warsaw
ul. Królewska 11
Warsaw

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