Highly experienced private equity real estate professional joins as CFO and COO
12 July 2022 - Westwind Capital, a new European private equity real estate investment platform targeting Life Sciences & Innovation real estate and the Living sectors, has begun the process of building a strong team of experienced professionals with Mark Terry joining as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
With Daniel Gorzawski as Founding Partner and CEO, Mark joins Westwind as Partner to help Daniel build out the business. Joining from Tristan Capital Partners, Mark brings an impressive track record with over 20 years of experience in finance and real estate investment management to Westwind Capital. He will play an active role in capital raising, debt origination, investor reporting and portfolio management, as well as governance and compliance.
Mark spent 11 years at Tristan Capital, having been one of the business’ early hires and the first member of its finance team, ultimately holding the role of Senior Partner and Funds’ CFO. Mark was heavily involved in all Tristan’s fund launches, alongside portfolio management and financings covering a pan-European portfolio of over 150 investments across all major asset classes, with AUM growing to over €11 billion. Mark was a member of Tristan Capital’s risk management, compliance and valuation committees.
Prior to joining Tristan, Mark held positions within the Real Estate Group at Macquarie Bank and the private equity real estate firm MGPA. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC.
Daniel Gorzawski, Founding Partner and CEO of Westwind Capital, commented: “It was extremely important to me that the first person to join Westwind Capital set a marker for the type of high-quality individuals with deep expertise that will form the bedrock of the team I aim to assemble. I believe Mark is an exemplar of that standard, bringing with him a rare depth of experience across both real estate and finance, with a proven track record of helping an early-stage business grow into a leading pan-European private equity real estate firm. His expertise will be invaluable to achieving our shared ambition for Westwind Capital’s growth and executing its investment strategy. I am very pleased to welcome him to the team, and as a partner.”
Mark Terry, CFO and COO of Westwind Capital, added: “I am very excited to join Westwind Capital at this early stage and to have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in its growth and success. Daniel’s well-earned reputation within the industry and track record of building Harrison Street’s European platform, together with the confidence I have in the strategy he has set, made Westwind the perfect opportunity for me after 11 incredible years at Tristan. I share Daniel’s belief that there is clear demand for a new, nimble and expert investment platform focused on Life Sciences & Innovation real estate and the Living sectors. Westwind Capital is arriving onto the European private equity real estate investment landscape at an exciting time, which presents both challenges and great opportunities.”
For further information:
FTI Consulting:
+44 (0)20 3727 1000
Richard Sunderland, Ellie Sweeney, Andrew Davis
About Westwind Capital
Westwind Capital was launched in June 2022 by Daniel Gorzawski, who previously built Harrison Street’s European platform as its first employee on the Continent and as Head of Europe between 2015-2020. At Harrison Street, Daniel was at the forefront of creating specialist investment strategies focused on living sectors and other operationally intensive real estate. During this time Daniel helped raised over US $1 billion in equity commitments for its first three European opportunity funds and one core vehicle. He oversaw the construction of a c. €3 billion portfolio which included over 16,000 student beds, 2,600 residential units and over 2 million sq ft of life sciences space across five countries1.
Westwind Capital will pursue a unique Pan-European strategy targeting Life Sciences & Innovation real estate and the Living sectors, including Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), Build-to-Rent (BTR) residential, and the more nascent growth sectors of Micro-Living and Co-Living. Westwind Capital believes that these asset classes represent relatively immature and fragmented markets in Europe that are characterised by structural undersupply and underpinned by strong demographic growth drivers, such as urbanisation and societal changes which support long term and diverse occupancy. Westwind Capital intends to act as catalyst and consolidator to benefit from the strong demand from institutional investors for high quality stabilised assets in these sectors.
The business will also adopt an aggregation strategy that aims to capture operational and capital market efficiencies from building out portfolios. It will aim to deliver value add and opportunistic returns from investments across major European markets and primarily the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, and Germany.
Ellie Sweeney Managing Director, EMEA, Strategic Communications
FTI Consulting
M: +44 7583 089 350
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London EC1A 4HD