Jason Sibthorpe, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the firm’s U.K. region, has announced that long-income real estate investment specialist Luke Mackenzie has joined the firm in London.
Effective immediately, Mackenzie becomes a Principal of Avison Young and will continue to focus on investment real estate sales and acquisitions. He brings to Avison Young 19 years of commercial real estate industry experience, most recently with CBRE Capital Markets in London where he was a senior director focusing on unlocking real estate investment transactions from asset-backed corporations, debt restructuring situations, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. During his career, he has worked on a pipeline of core investments and complex funding transactions with values ranging from £35 million to £3 billion.
“Our strategy at Avison Young has always been to grow our firm with leading industry professionals who embody our Principal-led, collaborative culture, and Luke is a great fit,” comments Sibthorpe. “He will play a significant role in the ongoing expansion of Avison Young’s full-service platform across the U.K. His extensive industry experience, strong leadership skills and comprehensive market knowledge will be of tremendous benefit to our company as we continue to grow our brand and recruit the next generation of top real estate talent. We couldn’t be more excited to have Luke on board.”
Mackenzie has represented clients such as WP Carey, M&G, Blackrock, Legal & General, Aviva and British Steel Pension Fund. His notable transactions include the acquisition of the Pendragon sale/leaseback portfolio for WP Carey; the acquisition of the BCA (British Car Auctions) sale/leaseback for M&G; the acquisition of the Odeon Cinemas sale/leaseback portfolio on behalf of Blackrock; the acquisition of Aviator Park and Causeway Business Parks for P&O Estates; and the acquisition of Toys R Us for a Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)-led consortium.
Mackenzie joined CBRE as a result of its acquisition in 2012 of Franc Warwick, where Mackenzie was a partner. Before moving to Franc Warwick in 2010, he served as: director of real estate with Close Brothers Corporate Finance (2008-2010); associate director with CBRE Capital Markets and Corporate Finance (2004-2008); European acquisitions associate with Heitman Real Estate Private Equity (2000-2002); and a real estate banking analyst with Morgan Stanley Real Estate. He began his real estate career in the graduate programme at King Sturge.
Mackenzie holds a Diploma in general practice surveying from the College of Estate Management, a Diploma in corporate finance from BPP Securities and Investments Institute in London, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in psychology from the University of Greenwich. He is active in the commercial real estate industry as a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).
“I look forward to helping Avison Young expand its footprint across the U.K and Europe as well as providing long-income investment opportunities to domestic and overseas clients with significant raised funds,” says Mackenzie. “We see a real opportunity to provide a dedicated long-income investment advisory platform to investors seeking bond-like investment returns. Whilst there are numerous secure income funds, there is no obvious dedicated team to work with who can source these opportunities from all property sectors to meet a range of risk-adjusted return needs. We will provide that service. We aim to be the go-to-name for real estate investors and owner/operators wishing to buy and sell into to the long-income markets as these clients continue to manage and rebalance their portfolios”.
He adds: “Avison Young has become the trending real estate firm over the past several years, and I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues in Europe and North America and leveraging Avison Young’s vast array of resources to meet our clients’ property needs and business goals.”
Avison Young opened its first U.K. offices in London and Thames Valley in April 2014 and has expanded steadily in the region since then. Over the past eight years, the firm has grown from 11 to 79 offices and from 300 to more than 2,400 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe.
