Press Release
Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Unibail-Rodamco create
the "Real Estate Chair" at HEC
23 June 2008
The HEC Foundation, HEC Paris, Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Unibail-Rodamcoannounced todaya partnership to create the"Real Estate Chair"at HEC Paris to promote academic and business education across Europe in the fields of real estate economics, finance and management.
“Founding this chair consecrates commercial real estate apart as its own sector of activity”,said Guillaume Poitrinal, CEO of Unibail-Rodamco. “Professionals who are leading the real estate industry with energy and innovation have international careers that are demanding, wide-ranging, and fulfilling all at the same time. That’s why we are proud to be able to contribute to training tomorrow’s entrepreneurs”.
“We are pleased to partner with Unibail-Rodamco, one of the leading real estate companies globally and one of our longest relationships in the sector, and with HEC, the leading business school in Europe and an outstanding academic leader in business education and research,” said Struan Robertson, Global Co-Head of Real Estate Banking at Morgan Stanley.“We have created a program that affords students across Europe the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills to succeed in real estate finance, investment and asset management.”
Daniel Bernard, Chairman of the HEC Foundation, added, “HEC is proud to welcome Morgan Stanley and Unibail-Rodamco as members of the HEC Foundation. This chair, the first of its kind, will contribute to developing new teaching in the financial mechanisms of the real estate industry”.
Bernard Ramanantsoa, Dean of HEC Paris,is pleased with this new chair. “In creating this groundbreaking chair, Morgan Stanley and Unibail-Rodamco will enable HEC to be at the forefront of innovation in real estate,”he said.
The chair will be heldby Alessandro Citanna*, HEC Finance and Economics Professor, Doctor of Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and winner of the Vernimmen Teaching Prize in 2007.
The main objectives of the “Real Estate Chair” are:
-To develop courses focused on real estate economics and finance for Masters, Specialised Masters, CEMSand MBA students at HEC Paris ;
-To extend the global reach of the real estate industry and its leading players ;
-To develop sophisticated professionals with the necessary skills to succeed in the global real estate industry and to recruit the best talentsof tomorrow.
This Chair will include specific educational courses focused on international real estate finance, economics, asset management and development as well as on real estate transactions. Students will also have the opportunity to explore thoroughly a variety of issues related to the global real estate industry through interactions with leading professionals and to gain exposure to cutting-edge research.
Morgan Stanley and Unibail-Rodamco will support the Chair for a period of three years and will become members of the HEC Foundation. Unibail-Rodamco will also become a partner of the CEMS network of 17 European business schools.
The partnership agreement was signed on June 20, 2008 by Daniel Bernard, Chairman of the HEC Foundation ; Bernard Ramanantsoa, Dean of HEC Paris ; Guillaume Poitrinal, Executive Chairman and CEO of Unibail-Rodamco ; Struan Roberston, Global Co-Head of Real Estate Banking at Morgan Stanley ; and Stéphane Theuriau, Chairman and CEO of Compagnie La Lucette, a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds’ Company; with Jean-Paul Vermès, President of VMS France and Vice-President of the Paris Chamber of commerce and industry in charge of Education and Training, attending.
*Alessandro Citanna
PH.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Alessandro Citanna joined HEC in 1999 as a professor in the Finance department after having taught at McGill and Carnegie Mellon Universities. His centers of interest are finance and economic theory. He received the Vernimmen Teaching Award in 2007.
About HEC Paris
A leading academic institution in France and Europe, HEC specialises in education and management research. HEC offers a complete and unique range of academicprograms to the decision makers of the future: HEC Grande Ecole (Master of Science in Management), Specialised Masters, MBA program, Part-time MBA, Executive MBA (Paris & Beijing), TRIUM Global Executive MBA (New York, Paris and London) and PhD. Founded in 1881, HEC has a permanent faculty of 104 professors, 3000 students -30% of whom are international, and over 8500 managers and executives are trained in the executive education programs every year. For more information:
The HEC Foundation
The HEC Foundation is made up of over 45 international companies who support HEC’s ambitions, participate in its strategy and favour a direct link between the worlds of business and academia. For businesses, becoming a partner of the HEC Foundation is a unique way to benefit from privileged access to students and professors and to contribute to HEC’s development. Partnershipswith the HEC foudation focus on teaching and research, developing poles of research, or founding a Chair. Currently HEC has over nine Chairs funded by: Accor/Air France/SNCF, Apple, Atos Origin, Deloitte, Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, Pernod Ricard, Renault, SFR, Toshiba and now Morgan Stanley / Unibail –Rodamco.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking and Lending. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $171.0 billion of real estate assets worldwideand currently manages $96.6 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. A complete range of market-leading investment banking services for real estate clients include advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. As a global leader in real estate lending, Morgan Stanley has offered approximately $210.9 billion of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities through the capital markets since 1997 including $44.9 billion in 2007. For more information about Morgan Stanley Real Estate please visit
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 33 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit
Unibail-Rodamco
Unibail-Rodamco is the leading listed Pan-European commercial property investor and developer with a property portfolio valued at € 25.2 billion as at December 2007. Unibail-Rodamco is proactive in three major business lines: shopping centres, offices, and convention & exhibitions. The group has a clear focus on high-quality commercial properties with a competitive edge in their respective markets due to size, technological performance, location and reputation. Unibail-Rodamco actively invests in and manages its dominant assets at premier locations throughout Europe. The group serves customers in 14 countries across Europe and employs over 1,600 people. Unibail-Rodamco has a listing on Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam.
Visit the company's Web site at
Press Contacts:
HEC Paris,Elisabeth De Réals, + 33 1 39 67 94 23,
Unibail-Rodamco, Maxence Naouri, + 33 1 53 43 75 47,
Morgan Stanley, Alyson D’Ambrisi, + 44 207 425 84 70,
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