JER Partners (JER), the private equity commercial real estate investment division of the J. E. Robert Companies, announces that Chester Barnes has joined the firm as Managing Director, Head of European Asset Management. In this capacity, Barnes will be responsible for overseeing the asset management activities of JER's European private equity real estate funds. He will be based in London and will report to Malcolm Le May, President, Europe at JER Partners.
"We are very pleased to have Chester join our European management team," commented Le May. "He is a well-known commercial real estate executive with an impressive track record for effectively managing assets across all sectors and regions in Europe. JER is in the midst of a period of accelerated growth and geographic expansion. We are confident that Chester will be instrumental in helping to drive that growth."
Prior to joining JER, Barnes was the Head of Asset Management (Europe, Middle East and Africa) for Merrill Lynch Global Principal Investments in London. In this role he led a team of nine professionals in four countries and was responsible for delivering on all business plans for the acquisitions in the region. He was also a member of the regional approval deal committee, focusing on a variety of property types, including retail, office, logistics, hotels, residential and non-performing loan portfolios.
Before that he held a number of positions at GE Real Estate, the most recent serving as European Risk Leader, where he worked with seven country platform leaders and the Risk and Originations Teams to screen opportunities in all product areas. During his tenure at GE, he was also Territory Risk Manager UK and Germany, Corporate Acquisitions, Head of REO Portfolio, and Asset Manager.
Earlier in his career, Barnes was instrumental in the 1990 corporate acquisition of Laing Properties while working at Chelsfield plc, London. He also held positions at Morgan Grenfell Laurie, Guardian Royal Exchange and Baker Harris Saunders, all in London.
Barnes is a graduate of Polytechnic of Central London and King's School Canterbury Kent.
Source: The HeadLand Consultancy
