Sirius Real Estate announces two senior appointments

Sirius Real Estate announces two senior appointments

Sirius Real Estate announces two changes of roles within its senior management team. 

Alistair Marks, current Chief Financial Officer, will be taking up the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer (CIO), while Diarmuid Kelly, current Group Finance Director, will join the Company’s board of directors as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Alistair Marks will continue to be a member of the Company’s board.

These two appointments, together with the creation of the role of Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing and Impact Officer (CMIO) in 2021, complete a restructuring of the senior management team to reflect the significant expansion of the business in recent years, including the Company’s entry into the UK market with the acquisition of BizSpace in November 2021.

Both appointments will become effective on 1 February 2022.

Alistair Marks joined Sirius in January 2007 and took the Company through its IPO in 2007. Since then, he has been responsible for the financial management of the Group, its capital structure and all investment activity and, prior to the creation of the COO role, was responsible for asset level operations. During his tenure, the Company’s capital structure has been transformed to include corporate debt, whilst a series of capital investment programmes have resulted in significant income and capital value creation.

In his new role as CIO, Alistair will focus on the Group’s investment activity, covering acquisitions, disposals and capex investment programmes, utilising his significant experience in the industrial, office and business parks sector, as well as deep operational experience and expertise to identify and execute on a wide range of opportunities that unlock value for the Group.

Having been with the Group since 2015, and after serving as Group Finance Director, Diarmuid Kelly has been appointed to CFO. Diarmuid has worked directly alongside Alistair for more than six years and, as the Group has grown, has taken on additional responsibilities relating to the Group’s audit and financial processes, as well as debt financing and investor relations activities. Diarmuid has over 18 years’ experience in financial management within the professional services, investment management and sovereign wealth fund sectors including as Head of Financial Control, Hospitality, Real Estate at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Diarmuid has a Master’s degree in International Management from the University of Exeter and is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).

Commenting on the appointments, Andrew Coombs, Chief Executive Officer of Sirius Real Estate, said: “Over the past few years, and in spite of the pandemic, Sirius has continued to perform well operationally and also to grow. This has been achieved through a combination of direct acquisitions and asset management, as well as through our Titanium joint venture with AXA IM Alts and, most recently, via our entry into the UK with the acquisition of BizSpace. Our new management structure ensures we have the right people in the right roles to further enable us to achieve our goals and continue to grow our platform.

“Both Alistair and Diarmuid have been with the business for a significant amount of time and have continually outperformed in terms of delivering on their objectives. The role of CIO allows Alistair to focus on growing our portfolio by utilising his long standing and market leading expertise in the industrial and business parks sector. At the same time, Diarmuid has been responsible for extensive parts of the Group’s finances for some time, working closely alongside Alistair, and is the obvious candidate to take ownership of the business critical aspects of the Group’s financial operations. I am delighted with Alistair agreeing to take on his new role, for which he is supremely qualified, and I would like to congratulate Diarmuid on his well deserved appointment to the board as CFO.”