By Lars Reubekeul, partner, DLA Piper
This is an exciting year at MIPIM. The high liquidity in the real estate investment market can be felt everywhere. One can almost see the goose bumps when people are whispering in the corners, in the restaurants or on the boats saying, “I know someone who might intend to sell by way of a forward commitment in next year or so.”
My Monday night warm-up was a barbecue hosted by a German logistics fund manager in the mountains at Theoule sur Mer with a wonderful night view on Cannes; it was nice to see what was waiting for us over the next few days. The event felt almost like family, with the MD at the grill and the fund manager serving the wine.
I got into conversation with a project developer who intends a rollout of micro-apartments in the next few months and is looking for an investor – a tick in the box for a new client who is about to enter the German market. We arrange an appointment on our boat for Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, I could only take the briefest glance at the DLA Piper boat Salu before heading to the first meetings of the day, at the Frankfurt booth in the “bunker”.
Having seen the noisy crowd of more 20,000 official participants, it is great to later retreat on board Salu to welcome our clients, friends and new contacts for a series of relaxed meetings. On board we have an ideal platform to make introductions to other clients and around 50 of my colleagues from throughout our firm – a true reflection of the cross-border nature of today’s real estate industry.
Our CEE reception, the Nordic drinks and the French cocktail reception in the late afternoon and evening transform the atmosphere on the boat. From gentle and relaxed it becomes packed and energetic and I pick up new ideas and market trends, like working more efficiently by using artificial intelligence in the real estate industry.
Most people are pleased to hear that we not only know some of the market leaders for such services, but that we actually collaborated with them or can offer our own system as part of our legal services.
Time for a decent dinner and looking forward to successful day two at MIPIM.
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