Atrium European Real Estate , a leading owner, operator and developer of retail real estate and shopping centres in Central and Eastern Europe,announces the appointment of Josip Kardun ( pictured) as Chief Operating Officer with effect from 14 February, 2014. Additionally, Mr Kardun will act as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and will join Atrium’s Group Executive Management Team, reporting directly to Rachel Lavine, the Group’s Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment follows the departure of Nils-Christian Hakert, Chief Operating Officer, who will leave the Group to pursue other business interests effective 31 March 2014, following the completion of an orderly handover.
Mr Kardun, who sits on the Executive Board of ICSC Europe, is a highly experienced retail property professional with a strong international operational and transactional track record and a deep and thorough understanding of Atrium’s core businesses in its regions of activity.
Mr Kardun joins Atrium from European retail property specialists ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co KG (“ECE”), where he has worked for seven years in a number of senior positions, most recently as its Chief Investment Officer and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Transaction Management Group. Prior to this he was Deputy Managing Director Development of ECE Group and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategic Partner Relations and Managing Director of ECE International, having been promoted from his role as Managing Director Centermanagement of ECE International where he was responsible for property management in all 13 of ECE’s markets outside Germany.
Prior to joining ECE, Mr Kardun worked at the international shopping centre developer and manager, Sonae Sierra, where he was General Manager at Sierra Management Germany GmbH, Düsseldorf, with responsibility for leasing activities and centre management, before which he was Head of Legal Coordination Sonae West Shopping AG in Düsseldorf.
Mr Kardun has a law degree from the Goethe University Frankfurt.
Source : Company