International

Andreas is the Head of Consultancy at Christie + Co, the UK’s leading specialist hotel and leisure property advisor. He has extensive consultancy and M&A experience across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA. Andreas joined the firm from Deloitte, where he spent six years working in the UK and the USA across the company’s Consultancy and Corporate Finance divisions. Prior to joining Deloitte, Andreas was based in Los Angeles as part of Arthur Andersen’s Hotel Business Consultancy team. He has operational hotel experience in the USA, Switzerland and Hong Kong. He is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and speaks fluent German and Swiss-German.

Andreas has advised on c. £7bn of debt exposure across the hospitality & leisure sectors in the last 18 months, providing operational reviews, independent business reviews, strategic advice, as well as defining workout options and evaluating rebranding/positioning opportunities.

Armin is based in Christie + Co's Munich Office. Having joined the company as a Senior Consultant in January 2004 he is now a Director & Head of Advisory and Valuation Services. Prior to this he worked for PKF hotelexperts. He has gained extensive experience of hotel feasibility, valuation studies and strategic consultancy work, having worked on a wide range of hotels, serviced apartments, time-share and other leisure properties throughout Europe. More recently, he has worked alongside his UK colleagues on a number of care home valuations.

Armin holds a Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) degree in Economics, specializing in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. Furthermore, he holds a special degree in Real Estate (Immobilienökonom IRE/BS), which is comparable to a Master of Science in Real Estate. Armin has authored several articles on hotel valuation and other hotel related topics.

Chris Day joined Christie + Co in 1985 and, having worked in the Manchester, Birmingham and London Offices, was appointed Managing Director in 1993. He has overall responsibility for all Christie + Co's specialist transactional and advisory activities. Chris has overseen the successful expansion of Christie + Co into a truly global firm, which currently has 25 offices throughout Europe and in the Middle East.

Based in the London office, Chris has particular responsibility for our international operations and he travels regularly. He specialises in the sale and valuation of hotels, public houses and restaurants and has led teams handling numerous disposal and valuation assignments for many high profile clients.

Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC). He commenced his career in the property profession in 1975, qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1980. In recent years he has chaired the Central London Branch of the RICS, and is currently a member of the London Regional Board of the RICS.

Kimmo joined Christie + Co in January 2005 to work from London as part of our International Advisory Team. He was appointed an Associate Director in March 2007 and, in April 2008, returned to his native Helsinki, to take on the position of Director of Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic States. He previously spent three years working in London as an Associate Director and Relationship Manager with three of the UK’s most important hotel lending banks and five years as a consultant and senior consultant with HVS International in London. He has extensive experience of conducting a range of hotel market and feasibility studies and advisory projects, including hotel valuations throughout Europe.

Kimmo holds an MSc Diploma in Property Investments from City University in London and an MBA in Hotel Management from Michigan State University (East Lansing, US). He also has a BSc in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management from Haaga Institute Polytechnic, Finland.

Lukas joined Christie + Co in September 2010 as Manager Business Development Austria & CEE and is based in our newly opened office in Vienna/Austria. He holds a degree in Tourism Management & Leisure Industry as well as a Master of Science in Real Estate and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Before joining Christie + Co, Lukas worked as Senior Advisor at KPMG in Budapest. In this position he worked on numerous projects in Germany, Austria and CEE. His projects included valuations across Europe, hotel operator searches, contract negotiations, feasibility studies, preparation of sales and marketing plans for integrated resorts as well as assistance in hotel transactions.

Prior to this Lukas worked as Development Manager for RIMC, a hotel management company in Hamburg, Germany. In this position he was responsible for the evaluation of new hotel projects, reviews and negotiations of hotel contracts as well as the preparation of operational forecasts for the proposed hotels. As part of his property development tasks he worked closely with architects, developers and investors. His professional experience in the hotel and tourism industry further includes working in places such as Switzerland, the Caribbean and the US (e.g. InterContinental, Renaissance, Sacher, Sandals Antigua Resort).

Markus Beike has headed up the development of Christie + Co’s German operations as Managing Director since 2003. Key achievements since his appointment have included the opening of new offices such as Berlin and Munich, the development of an advisory and valuations team, and the completion of more than 150 hotel transactions during the past three years.

Markus started his professional career 25 years ago with an apprenticeship as a qualified hotelier at Steigenberger. Subsequently, he was employed as an assistant to the executive board at Kempinski and worked as an analyst in the credit risk management of Deutsche Bank. Before joining Christie + Co, Markus Beike held the position of a manager in the corporate finance team at Arthur Andersen. Markus holds a certificate as a qualified hotelier from the German Chamber of Commerce, Hotelfachmann (IHK), a graduate business diploma, Diplombetriebswirt (FH), and a special degree in property business (EBS). He is also a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Markus also regularly lectures at Technische Universität Berlin, Universität Wuppertal and Maastricht Hotel School.

Pia joined Christie + Co in March 2001. She is responsible for internal and external communications in the German-speaking countries, including press and media relations, organising events and exhibitions, and coordinating all kinds of print and online marketing.

Pia was instrumental in setting up and developing the German versions of the company’s websites, and helps to enhance brand awareness and improve the Christie image in the German-speaking countries. Before joining Christie + Co, she worked in the gastronomic sector and the tourism industry. Pia has a vast knowledge of client and corporate communications, and is fluent in German, English and Italian. In 2008, she was appointed Communications Director for Germany and Austria.

Pia Andrews is a translator/interpreter for English and a Fachwirtin Public Relations (IHK) – a Bachelor of Public Relations from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Robert Chess has more than 20 years’ experience dealing with hotels and leisure property. He is a member of the President’s Panel of the RICS Dispute Resolution Service and a Fellow of the RICS (FRICS). Having gained experience in the corporate sector working for the Imperial Group and Grand Metropolitan, Robert has worked in private practice for more than 20 years.

Working as a specialist within the hotel sector, he is primarily experienced in the professional and consultancy side of the business, having undertaken numerous valuations, rent reviews and general advisory projects in the UK and across Europe including projects in France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Hong Kong.

Recognised as one of the industry’s leading specialists, Robert has given evidence in Court on a number of occasions and has also given evidence at planning inquiries.

Teresita Leibenfrost’s employment history comprises various assignments in the high-end hotel segment, such as at the five-star Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich and the DO & CO Hotel in Vienna, as well as in the property business. She worked for some time at Pramerica, an international property investment company in Munich and, most recently, at luxury hotel and resort developer Kneissl Star Resort. Teresita has a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University in Ithaca/NY, USA.