Sir John Beckwith has teamed up with the former head of Lehman Brothers’ European real estate private equity group to look for investment opportunities in the European property markets.

Sir John is seen to be lining up an experienced management team for a fresh push into commercial property, which many analysts expect to be near the bottom of its two-year slump.

Gerald Parkes has joined Sir John’s business, through which he has established asset management groups including Liontrust, Thames River Capital and Europa Capital. Parkes previously ran Invesco Real Estate Europe.

The team is exploring options to exploit the depressed market conditions, including talking to bankers about raising money potentially through a public offering. Oriel Securities is expected to be appointed as an adviser.

Financial Times