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.

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.

Philipp Kraneis was one of the very first people to join Christie + Co´s German team in 1999. As Head of Investment Germany, he is responsible for corporate transactions across the country. He also oversees the transaction departments in Frankfurt and Munich.

Philipp specialises in working with open- and closed-end funds, multiple ownership structures and NPL transactions. During his time with Christie + Co, he has successfully negotiated more than 130 freehold and leasehold hotel deals. Highlights include the sale of several hotel portfolios operated under various brands and the successful disposal of the Maritim Hotel in Hamburg, one of the largest single-asset deals completed in Germany in recent years. Philipp has worked in the property sector for over 14 years, holding various positions in the hotel sector with a number of well-known companies, such as Kempinski, where he worked before joining Christie + Co. Philipp Kraneis was appointed Director in 2006.

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.

Constanze joined Christie + Co as a Consultant Advisory & Valuation in July 2012. Previously with Horwath HTL in Budapest and CBRE Hotels Germany & CEE in Munich, Constanze gained experience in real estate consultancy as a trainee and covered assignments including market research, feasibility studies, and valuation reports benefiting from exposure to hotel markets in Germany and Central Eastern Europe.

Throughout her studies Constanze was able to acquire operational experience in the high-end hotel segment, such as at the Louis C. Jacob in Hamburg and the Le Méridien Vienna. Constanze holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management from Ecole Hôteliere de Lausanne (EHL) where she graduated with honours in May 2011 as the valedictorian with the best overall grade point average. For her bachelor dissertation in finance on the topic of hospitality valuation entitled “Hospitality: highly appreciated, largely undervalued? A new insight into lodging undervaluation puzzle” she was awarded the certificate for the best bachelor dissertation of the semester.