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ECE Real Estate Partners

Shopping Centre and Hotel Investment Management

We are Europe’s leading private equity real estate investment manager with a focus on shopping centres and hotels.

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    • We are part of the ECE Group and also fully owned by the Otto family
    • Our assets under management comprise 24 prime shopping centres in seven European countries with a total fair market value of more than ten billion euros
    • Our fund management team consists of 30 real estate & investment professionals with an average of 15 years of relevant experience, leveraging off of the full breadth and depth of ECE’s European platform
    • We plan to launch the ECE European Lodging Recovery Fund and have already acquired a first seed asset

Global Investor Base

Our Funds administer equity commitments of more than 2.3 billion euros, raised from globally leading institutional investors.

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    • We have an exclusive focus on the acquisition of existing shopping centers with value creation potential in selected European countries as well as branded hotels or projects with value add potential in major cities or leisure concepts in metropolitan areas
    • We have strong alignment of interest through significant capital commitments from the Otto family and from ECE executives
    • We are the ECE Group’s exclusive retail real estate acquisition vehicles

Member of the ECE Group

The ECE Group is Europe’s leading operator and developer of commercial real estate, active in all asset classes and with more than 55 years of experience.

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    • 100% privately owned by the Otto Family, with 3,400 property specialists located across 13 European countries providing leasing, centre management, revitalisation, construction and financing services
    • Extensive relationships with international tenants and institutional investors provide access to transaction flow and financing
    • “Hands-on” asset management expertise results in the ability to execute tenant mix optimisation, expansions and repositioning measures
    • We leverage off ECE’s European platform for sourcing, due diligence, property management, leasing and back office support

Regulated Fund Manager (AIFM)

Fully authorized by the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (“CSSF”).

 

Meet the Management

Our founding partner Dr. Volker Kraft set up the platform in 2008 and formed a dedicated and strong investment management team. José María Ortiz oversees the Luxembourg office since 2010 and Markus Schmitt-Habersack joined ECE Real Estate Partners as managing partner in July 2017.

We are currently 30 real estate & investment professionals with an average of 15 years of relevant experience, leveraging off of the full breadth and depth of ECE’s European platform.

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Dr. Volker Kraft
Managing Partner

ECE Real Estate Partners
Hamburg

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    • Prior to joining ECE in 2008 and the founding of ECE Real Estate Partners, Volker was a Director of Allianz Capital Partners GmbH, a private equity firm located in Munich, Germany, where he was a member of the management team and the internal investment committee.
    • Volker has been involved in various stages of the private equity process, including the preparation and execution of leveraged buyouts, M&A transactions and mezzanine financings.
    • Volker obtained a Doctorate in Finance from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, in 2000 and obtained a masters degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, in 1997.
    • From 2009 to 2015, Volker served on the Board of Directors of DDR Corp. (now: Site Centers), a leading owner, manager and developer of market-dominant shopping centres in the U.S., as a representative for the Otto Family.
    • In 2014, Volker was appointed to the Board of Directors of Sonae Sierra Brasil S.A. (now: ALLOS S.A.), one of the leading developers, owners and operators of shopping centres in Brazil.
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Markus Schmitt-Habersack
Managing Partner

ECE Real Estate Partners
Hamburg

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    • Prior to joining ECE Real Estate Partners, Markus was Chairman Investment Germany and International Partner of Cushman & Wakefield. Markus has been involved in major retail real estate transactions in Germany, buy side and sell side, representing a total investment volume of more than 750 million Euro.
    • Before he joined Cushman & Wakefield, Markus was 15 years with ECE Projektmanagement in different senior functions including Head of Business Development of ECE International and Director M&A. Markus has been managing several shopping centre developments in Germany and Eastern Europe and various shopping centre transactions in Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark.
    • Markus studied law at the University of Freiburg and the University of Mainz and obtained the 1st and 2nd state examination in law.
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José María Ortiz
Managing Director

ECE Real Estate Partners
Luxembourg

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    • Prior to joining ECE Real Estate Partners in December 2010, from April 2006 to December 2010, José María was Group Financial Controller at Hines in Luxembourg, where he was responsible for the co-ordination of the legal and tax structuring process of open-ended and closed-ended fund structures, co-ordination of acquisitions and disposals, finance and cash management, financial reporting, fee structuring, annual budget review and approval. In addition, during José María’s time at Hines, he held Directorship functions for Luxembourg limited liability companies.
    • Prior to joining Hines in April 2006, José María worked from July 1999 to April 2006 at Arthur Andersen-Ernst & Young in Madrid and subsequently in Luxembourg and became a Manager in 2004. Whilst at Arthur Andersen-Ernst & Young, José María’s tasks included auditing Luxembourg closed-ended investment funds investing in the European Union in development and advising on the set up of different Luxembourg fund structures. José María obtained a degree in Economics and a PhD in Monetary Markets from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1994.
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Ascan Kókai
Principal – Hotel

ECE Real Estate Partners
Hamburg

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    • Ascan joined ECE Real Estate Partners in October 2020 to oversee its hotel real estate investment activities.
    • Since October 2015, Ascan was a member of the management committee for the business unit Northern Europe of NH Hotel Group and responsible for the expansion activities.
    • From 2005 to 2015, Ascan was with Invesco Real Estate (London, Munich). He managed Invesco’s first hotel fund from 2010, built up the hotel asset management team and was closely involved in the fund set up, capital raising and transaction management.
    • Before joining Invesco, Ascan spent from 1999 to 2005 over six years at JLL Hotels in London working across valuations, brokerage and eventually as Vice President in asset management.
    • Ascan started out in 1992 as a Hotelkaufmann trainee in the luxury hotel sector (Fairmont Hamburg Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel) and in 1999 graduated with a first class BSc (Hons) from University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
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Carsten Remmert
Principal – Retail

ECE Real Estate Partners
Hamburg

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    • Carsten joined ECE Real Estate Partners in September 2014. Prior to that, from 2011 to 2014 he worked at FREO Group, a real estate investment management and services firm, in Munich as an Executive Director responsible for investment management, including the management of a real estate fund, and business development.
    • From 2004 to 2011 he worked with the real estate investment group of GIC, a sovereign wealth fund manager, in London, most recently as a Vice President.
    • From 2002 to 2004 Carsten worked with CBRE, a real estate services firm, in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Brussels as an Investment Analyst in investment brokerage.
    • Carsten holds a Master’s degree in business administration (Diplom-Kaufmann) from “EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht” in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany and a Master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
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Christian Müller
Principal – Retail

ECE Real Estate Partners
Hamburg

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    • Prior to joining ECE Real Estate Partners in February 2010, from 2007 to 2010, Christian served as a Project Manager for Finance of ECE, where he was responsible for the financial analysis of numerous shopping centre developments and real estate transactions in Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.
    • Prior to joining ECE, Christian worked at Deutsche Genossenschafts-Hypothekenbank AG in the Credit Treasury Division (which he joined in 2002), where he was responsible for the negotiation and project management of various transactions concerning securitisation and the sale of loan and real estate portfolios in Germany with a total transaction value of several billion Euros.
    • Christian obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of Würzburg (Bavaria) business school in 2002.