M7 hires CFO for European expansion

M7 Real Estate has appointed David Simmonds as chief financial officer. Simmonds joins from Australian firm APN Property Group where he had been finance director of its Australian Securities Exchange-listed Industria REIT since its IPO in December 2013.

The hire is part of the firm’s growth strategy. Since forming in 2009, M7 has steadily grown out a European operation opening offices throughout western and central Europe, but has really ramped up its growth over the last 12 months during which time it has increased its assets under management by 60 percent to €1.7m billion.

Simmonds, who will be based at its headquarters in London, said: “This is a great opportunity to join a company that is at a pivotal stage in its development, and I look forward to working with the team to continue building on M7‘s success to date.“

Richard Croft, M7 real estate’s chief executive officer added: “David joins us at a tremendously exciting period in M7‘s growth.  His extensive experience across both listed vehicles and private equity businesses, as well as companies in growth mode, means that he is well positioned to help M7 into the next phase of its expansion.”

Industria is a vehicle managed by specialist real estate investment manager APN Property Group, which currently has $400 million of assets under management and is invested primarily in urban logistics and business parks. 

Prior to working in the Australian market, Simmonds held a series of senior positions across multiple regions and real estate asset types, working in a number of European markets throughout his 20-year career. 

Simmonds’ other roles include chief financial officer for Europe at APN’s London office, where he was responsible for the firm’s European business activities across 11 countries and with 60 corporations.

He also spent over three years from 2007 to 2010 as finance director for the Goodman Group, where he had responsibility for its European business parks division.