French asset manager Acofi Gestion has appointed Christophe Murciani (pictured) and Benjamin Debré as managing director and fund manager respectively within its real estate debt fund platform.
The firm manages around €1bn of assets in this asset class after some €400m were raised for its fourth property fund.
Prior to joining Acofi Gestion, Murciani spearheaded JLL’s real estate debt advisory group in Paris since 2013.
Formerly, he ran the ran the European finance team of Tishman Speyer Properties before moving to Cityhold, a joint venture between two Swedish pension funds in 2011 where he sourced and acquired prime office properties.
Between 1993 and 2008, Murciani has executed major real estate structured debt mandates, respectively with Société Générale, Natixis, and then Citigroup, where he was in charge of a 4-strong team originating deals in France, Benelux, and Italy.
Debré also joined from JLL’s property debt advisory group where he was a director since 2015.
Initially with HSBC’s bond origination group, Benjamin joined Lazard Frères’ M&A team in 2003. He moved to Citigroup’s structured property lending division in Paris in 2006. With Oberthur Fiduciaire, starting in 2011, Benjamin was responsible for business development, covering a client base of central banks and public entities in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
He then joined Monument Capital Group as a senior advisor in charge of fundraising with sovereign funds, domestic and international institutional investors.
“We are extremely pleased that two seasoned professionals like Christophe and Benjamin join ACOFI to complement our teams. Property debt funds, one of our four strategic business lines, is bound to experience new developments, offering institutional investors new and innovative investment strategies and solutions, whilst meeting the highest management standards.” said Thibault de Saint Priest, Acofi Gestion’s chairman and CEO.
Established in 1997 affiliated with the La Française group, Acofi Gestion covers commercial real estate, energy infrastructure, specialty finance and public sector lending.
It has around €2.5bn of real assets and debt funds under management or advisory.
