Philip Levinson to Step Down as CEO of Cromwell EREIT Management

Philip Levinson will be stepping down as CEO of Cromwell EREIT Management, less than a year after taking the helm at the manager of Singapore-listed Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust.

The REIT manager announced that Levinson will resign on August 31. The executive, who came on board in November of last year, “will remain in Singapore and intends to pursue other business interests” including providing advisory services to the trust’s sponsor Cromwell Property Group, according to a statement.

Levinson oversaw the REIT’s $660 million listing on the main board of the Singapore Exchange in November, after a first attempt at an offering was called off in September. He will remain as executive director and CEO until his resignation and will help ensure a smooth transition, according to the statement. The board of directors has begun to search for a new CEO.

Real Estate Investment Veteran Moves on

Levinson, 54, joined the REIT after a previous stint as CEO of the manager of Singapore-listed Cambridge Industrial Trust – now called ESR-REIT – from 2014 to 2016. After leaving the industrial REIT, he spent just over a year as a managing partner of Penmount Partners, a specialist investment advisory firm in Singapore.

The executive, who has over three decades of experience in real estate investment, funds management and private equity, relocated to Singapore in 2005 as the head of Asia client services for Asia Pacific with LaSalle Investment Management. He later held several senior roles at Blackstone Group, including setting up the private equity giant’s business in Australia.

Fledgling $1.6B REIT Needs New CEO

Formed in April of last year, Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust is the first euro-denominated REIT on the Singapore exchange, and aims to channel capital from Asia Pacific into Europe’s commercial real estate sector.

The trust has a portfolio of 74 properties across five European countries – Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands – with a valuation of about 1.35 billion euros ($1.6 billion) as of April 2017. The portfolio consists almost entirely of office, light industrial, and logistics properties, along with a set of government-led campuses, a retail asset and a hotel in Italy.

The REIT’s sponsor, Brisbane-based Cromwell Property Group, is a global real estate investment manager with A$11.2 billion in assets under management across more than 330 properties in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Cromwell EREIT Management is a subsidiary of Cromwell Property Group.