Kseniya Merritt joins Representative Office in New York City and takes responsibility for retail investments with focus on the U.S.
Union Investment Real Estate GmbH is has reinforced its investment activities in the North American retail markets by hiring retail expert Kseniya Merritt. Ms. Merritt joined Union Investment’s team based in New York City on May 1st. Ms. Merritt will be in charge of expanding Union Investment’s existing retail portfolio in the U.S. as well as investigating market entry opportunities in Canada. In her retail capacity, Ksenyia Merritt reports to Henrike Waldburg, who is heading the company’s retail investment department based in Hamburg/Germany. Union Investment currently holds some 80 retail properties valued at approximately USD 9.6 bn in its portfolio. Already active in the US office markets for over 30 years, the company entered the U.S. retail sector last year by purchasing a 49% stake in four retail properties in New York, Phildelphia and San Francisco via a joint venture with TIAA Global Asset Management.
Kseniya Merritt brings twelve years of comercial real estate experience with a speciality in retail. Kseniya joins the company from Brixmor Property Group, one of the largest publicly traded U.S. REITs, where she ran the capital recycling program for the South Region of the company consisting of 154 shopping centers. Prior to that, she spent ten years at a private equity firm, Lamar Companies, where she focused on retail and was responsible for deal sourcing, due dilligence, and securing of equity and debt financing for the transactions. Kseniya graduated summa cum laude from Farleigh Dickinson University where she received a Master of Business Administration in finance and a Bachelor’s degree in finance and economics.
“In 2016, we handled global acquisitions in the retail sector with a total value of more than USD 1 billion,” said Henrike Waldburg. “We are delighted to have now recruited with Kseniya a deal experienced specialist with an excellent network of contacts in the U.S. retail sector.”
