Mr. Ioannis Papalekas is a Greek national born in Greece in 1976. He obtained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in civil engineering and real estate investment management in the UK.

Mr. Papalekas went to Romania in the early 2000s and was responsible for delivering a large distribution centre for a Greek IT multinational company. While in Romania, he witnessed a country emerging out of communism and converging rapidly with Western Europe and decided to leave the multinational company and started to invest in the local real estate market.

Between 2001 and 2008, he created one of the most successful private real estate development and investment groups in the Romanian real estate market. During that time, Mr. Papalekas was involved in numerous real estate transactions and operations, mainly through companies in which he participated as founder, major shareholder and general manager. These companies were involved in the acquisition, master planning, development, reconstruction, refurbishment, operation and asset management of land and buildings across all major asset classes (office, retail, logistics and residential), including the development of more than 400.000 square metres of commercial (office, retail and logistics) space and 1.000 residential units, with a total equity investment volume in excess of €70,0m.

Shortly before the Lehman Brothers collapse and the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, Mr. Papalekas disposed of all his real estate investments to a number of major financial institutions and real estate investors (including Deutsche Bank, Allianz Group, and Australian pension funds) realising significant returns (circa 175% IRR and an almost 5x investment multiple) for his co-investors and himself.

Between 2008 and 2012, Mr. Papalekas stayed in Romania mainly working as a partner and asset manager in real estate projects for a number of investors, including Deutsche Bank with whom he became their exclusive partner in the broader south-east Europe region.

In 2012, Mr. Papalekas determined that the time was right to re-invest in the Romanian market as there was significant evidence of distress and market dislocation. This time, he wanted to create a more public vehicle, and this was the inception of Globalworth Real Estate Investments Limited (“Globalworth”), which he founded and listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2013 raising circa €55,0m as a real estate investor and developer with a primary focus on offices in the CEE. The first investment opportunities were the acquisitions of assets he had sold before the crisis at significant discounts to their previous value.

An excellent track record started attracting the interest of more investors. First in 2014, York Capital and Oakhill Advisors, two major US funds, invested in the company, and in 2016 CPPIB (Canada’s sovereign wealth fund) and Growthpoint Properties (South Africa’s largest real estate investment company). By that time, Globalworth had become Romania’s largest office investor and landlord.

The continuous success of Globalworth enabled the company to access the international bond capital markets raising more than €1,5bn of Eurobonds and attracting additional institutional equity investors like EBRD and Aroundtown S.A (Germany’s largest commercial real estate company). A major milestone in the company’s corporate development under Mr. Papalekas’ leadership was Globalworth’s entry into the Polish real estate market in late 2017 where, through a series of acquisitions, Globalworth became the largest office investor and landlord in the country and as a result in the broader CEE region.

Following its IPO in 2013 Globalworth grew from a €55,0m company with no assets to a €3,0bn+ market leader in the CEE region with over 50 buildings and 1,2m m2 across Poland and Romania managed by a team of over 200 employees.

In February 2020, Mr. Papalekas successfully sold his entire stake in Globalworth to CPI Property Group, a circa €9,0bn real estate investment company and a market leader in the Czech and Berlin real estate markets, in a circa €340m transaction which again demonstrated his ability to execute and dispose of investments generating significant returns.

Aside from his real estate investment business activities, Mr. Papalekas has also been active in the shipping and pharmaceutical businesses over the years, successfully co-investing alongside very experienced and successful operators and entrepreneurs. It is important to note that Mr. Papalekas is also a great philanthropist having donated several million Euros over the years in several charitable causes mainly focused around children in need and education.