London, July, 2008 - Perella Weinberg Partners (the “Firm”) announces the final closing of Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund I LP (the “Partnership”), an English Limited Partnership. The Partnership is a private investment vehicle organized by the Firm to make opportunistic investments in real estate, as well as real estate related assets and businesses, primarily in Europe. The Partnership is capitalized with total aggregate equity commitments of €1.2 billion made by a global group of sophisticated and highly regarded investors.
The Partnership’s governing entities are owned and controlled by the Firm. Léon Bressler, the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Unibail, is a partner of the Firm and the Managing Partner of the Partnership’s investment manager. He is supported by a team of accomplished executives, each of whom was recruited from leading European and global institutions based on his or her expertise in a variety of fields, including real estate principal investment, real estate corporate and asset operations, real estate and non-real estate investment banking and law. Daniel Rigny, previously a Managing Director and Co Head of Europe for Deutsche Bank Group’s RREEF Real Estate Opportunity Funds, is also a partner of the Firm and serves as the Head of Acquisitions and Asset Management.
Mr. Bressler stated: “With the combination of the Perella Weinberg Partners platform, a world class investor group and an exceptional investment team, we believe we have the core ingredients fundamental to the long term success of this venture. Moreover, the current European investment environment, characterised by deteriorating asset prices and impaired operations, should provide a variety of compelling opportunities for the investment of the Partnership’s capital.”
About Léon Bressler
Serving variously as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Unibail from 1992 through June 2006, Léon Bressler presided over a period of tremendous growth for the French property investment company. During his tenure, Unibail’s property portfolio grew to €9.4 billion and the company’s share price appreciated over 1,400%, making Unibail one of the largest property investment companies in continental Europe, as measured by market capitalization and total assets.
Mr. Bressler began his career with Chase Manhattan Bank successively in Paris, New York, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and London. In 1978, he joined the Midland Bank Group to participate in the establishment of Midland Bank in France. He was Chairman of the Executive Board of Midland Bank SA from 1984 to 1989. In 1989, he joined the Lanvin Group where he was Chairman and Chief Executive of Jeanne Lanvin and Lanvin Parfums. In 1991, he joined Worms & Cie and remained a Managing Partner until 1996. Mr. Bressler is a graduate of the 'Institut d'Etudes Politiques' de Paris and has a degree in Law.
About Perella Weinberg Partners
Perella Weinberg Partners is a financial services firm that provides corporate advisory and asset management services to clients around the world. The Firm, launched in June 2006, raised over $1 billion from a global group of investors to establish its operations and to seed its investment initiatives. Today, the Firm is comprised of more than 200 partners and employees recruited from a wide variety of leading financial institutions and located in offices in London, New York and Austin.
Biographies of all partners available on request.
www.pwpartners.com