Deutsche Finance International (“DFI”), the pan-European private equity real estate investor which manages €2.8 billion of assets and specialises in customer-centric real estate, has hired Michael Attfield as Head of Tax. The appointment is in line with DFI’s strategy to operate its platform with a strong in-house professional team, ensuring best in class execution and governance across all areas of real estate investment, capital raising and operations.

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In this newly created role within the finance team, Michael will lead DFI’s tax function across the firm, its funds and its investments, from structuring and due diligence through to reporting and compliance.

In a career spanning 11 years across various tax roles, Michael joins DFI following more than three years at Ares Management, a leading global asset manager. As Real Estate Tax Vice President, he oversaw tax structuring and due diligence for numerous real estate transactions in Europe, structuring of new funds and related discussions with investors, as well as ongoing tax compliance. He recently worked on the tax structuring, including initial investor discussions, of a European real estate value-add fund raise, as well as managing the tax structuring and due diligence for the acquisition of several UK student housing portfolios. Prior to this he spent three years at Deloitte as Associate Director within the Real Estate M&A Tax department, working primarily with private equity clients.

Michael began his career at KPMG in various tax roles and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser. He holds a BA in History from the University of York and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Michael’s appointment brings the size of the DFI team to 25 in total, operating across offices in London, Munich, Madrid and Luxembourg. Since 2017, DFI has aggregated €2.8 billion of assets executing its pan-European Value Add and select Opportunistic strategy across seven markets in Europe, including London’s iconic Olympia Exhibition Centre.

DFI has also hired Oliver Tipping as a Finance Analyst who will start in May.

Gavin Neilan, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner, at DFI said: “A key part of DFI’s success is attracting and retaining the best talent to ensure we do not just transact successfully on behalf of our clients but also maintain a distinctive culture and institutional governance structure, which enable the sustainable growth of our business. Michael joins with a wealth of valuable experience and we look forward to working with him to ensure we continue delivering strong returns to investors through our customer-centric approach to real estate investing.”

Michael Attfield, Head of Tax, at DFI added: “Having worked with Gavin and Frank on their first DFI investment, the Olympia Exhibition Centre, as well as the raising of their initial value-add European real estate fund, I was excited to be presented with the opportunity to join their firm. I look forward to working with the team as it looks for new and exciting opportunities to create value on behalf of its investors.”

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