Octopus appoints Head of Spain

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Cristina Pérez Liz as Head of Spain.

The appointment follows the launch of Octopus Spain announced earlier this year in September.

Cristina joins following a ten year career at Kennedy Wilson, where she was Senior Managing Director and Head of Spain for the European arm of the business, establishing and running their Madrid office, and investing and divesting across a range of real estate sectors.  She was previously Managing Director of Banco Santander’s restructuring unit and prior to that worked for PwC, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan – the latter two in London.

Cristina will be based in the new Octopus Spain office located in Madrid’s financial district. The office, which opened in September, is the first permanent location for Octopus in mainland Europe. Cristina will be responsible for leading this office, and growing Octopus’ real estate deployment capability in Spain.

She will report to Ed Clough, Managing Director at Octopus Real Estate, who has relocated to Madrid temporarily to support the team’s early growth.

“Building a strong local team is the most important part of our launch into Spain, so we’re delighted to welcome a leader of Cristina’s calibre to head those efforts. She brings a huge amount of real estate and capital markets experience across Spain and the rest of Europe, covering both equity and debt, which aligns with everything we do across Octopus Real Estate. She’ll play a pivotal role in building long-term relationships with new partners in Spain and in delivering results for our strategies.”

Ed Clough, Head of Real Estate at Octopus

Octopus Real Estate is principally focused on the living and healthcare sectors and aims to expand all its existing strategies into Spain, and across Europe, over the coming years, including retirement living, elderly care homes, affordable housing and real estate debt.

Its first announced strategy which will include deployment in Spain is the Octopus Retirement Rental Strategy, a European value-add retirement living strategy, focusing on the development of later living schemes exclusively for rent for those aged 75+. As part of the strategy, Octopus will form a joint venture (JV) with Neinor, the leading residential property developer in Spain. The JV will initially aim to develop up to ten retirement communities in Spain in suburban locations. It will focus on middle market, amenitised assets that are lifestyle driven, for residents to remain independent, engaged and socialised.  

“I’m very excited to be joining the Octopus team and can’t wait to get started leading our expansion in Spain. The team’s long track record and knowledge of the living and healthcare sectors, including in senior living, provides a great platform to start from – those sectors in Spain are emerging as prime targets for international capital, and we know we can deliver the same excellent outcomes as we have done in the UK, by strategically selecting the right opportunities, with the right partners. Ed and the wider team have made important first steps over the past few months which I look forward to developing.”

Cristina Pérez Liz, Head of Spain at Octopus