3 August 2020

 

Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited

(the "Company")

 

 

Appointment of Non-Executive Directors/ Succession planning and response to recent AGM voting

 

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Shelagh Mason with effect from 1 Sepetmber 2020 and Charlotte Denton with effect from 1 January 2021 as Non Executive Directors of the Company.

 

Today's appointments are in accordance with the Board's existing Succession Planning Memorandum which states that a new Director will be appointed to the Board during the second half of 2020 giving them time to get up to speed prior to Mr. Jonathan Bridel standing down from the Board in December 2020. In addition, the Company have decided that it is appropriate to appoint a second Director to the Board to further improve the Company's skills, experience and diversity as well as to assist in the succession process when Mr. Stephen Smith retires from the Board in December 2021 and when Mr. John Whittle retires from the Board on December 2022.

 

Stephen Smith, the Chairman of the Board of the Company, added: "I am fortunate to have led a very able Board since the Group's formation, which has performed well and continues to work effectively with a talented manager. Shelagh and Charlotte will bring enormous talent as well as new skills and and a good deal of experience  and we are delighted that we are in a position to bring them on board early in the rotation, ensuring a smooth transition. Any perceived imbalances in Board composition have been addressed and we look forward to working with our new colleagues during the rotation period."

 

The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank all shareholders for their continuous support.

 

 

Shelagh Mason

Shelagh Mason, aged 60, is a solicitor specialising in English commercial property as  a consultant with Collas Crill LLP. She is also non-executive Chairman of the Channel Islands Property Fund Limited and sits on the Board of Riverside Capital PCC, Skipton International Limited a Guernsey Licensed bank and is a non executive director of the Renewables Infrastructure Fund a FTSE 250 company and she is also on the Board of Ruffer Investment Company Limited. Previously Shelagh was a member of the board of directors of Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust, a property fund listed on the London Stock Exchange for 10 years until December 2014. She retired from the board of Medicx Fund Limited, a main market listed investment company investing in primary healthcare facilities in 2017 after 10 years on the board. She is a past Chairman of the Guernsey Branch of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Guernsey International Legal Association and she also holds the IOD Company Direction Certificate and Diploma with distinction. Shelagh is a resident of Guernsey.

 

Charlotte Denton

During Charlotte's executive career she worked in various locations through roles in diverse organisations, including KPMG, Rothschild, Northern Trust, a property development start up and a privately held financial services group. She has served on boards for over fourteen years and is currently a Non Executive Director of various entities including a Butterfield Bank (Guernsey) Limited, Cinven and Next Energy. Charlotte is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a degree in politics from Durham University. She is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, a Chartered Director and a fellow of the Institute of Directors.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Apex Fund and Corporate Services (Guernsey) Limited

Vania Santos

T:

 

 

Notes:

 

Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited is an investment company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange with an investment objective to provide Shareholders with regular dividends and an attractive total return while limiting downside risk, through the origination, execution, acquisition and servicing of a diversified portfolio of real estate debt investments in the UK and the wider European Union's internal market. .

 

The Group is the largest London-listed vehicle to provide investors with pure play exposure to real estate lending.

 

The Group's assets are managed by Starwood European Finance Partners Limited, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Starwood Capital Group.