Diarmuid will be taking over from Alistair Marks, who has been appointed as chief investment officer.
JSE-listed Sirius Real Estate has announced the appointment of its current group FD Diarmuid Kelly as its new CFO. He will be taking over from Alistair Marks, who will be taking up the newly created role of chief investment officer.
Having been with the group since 2015, Diarmuid has worked directly alongside Alistair for more than six years and, as the group has grown, has taken on additional responsibilities relating to the group’s audit and financial processes, as well as debt financing and investor relations activities.
In his new role, Alistair will focus on the group’s investment activity, covering acquisitions, disposals and capex investment programmes. He will also be using his experience in the industrial, office and business parks sector, as well as deep operational experience and expertise, to identify and execute on a wide range of opportunities that unlock value for the group.
According to the company, these two appointments, together with the creation of the chief operations officer and chief marketing and impact officer roles in 2021, complete a restructuring of the senior management team to reflect the significant expansion of the business in recent years, including the company’s entry into the UK market with the acquisition of BizSpace in November 2021.
“The appointments also provide a strong framework to enable Sirius to achieve its ambitions for future growth and the continued development of its platform,” the company stated.
Diarmuid has over 18 years’ experience in financial management within the professional services, investment and sovereign wealth fund sectors including as head of financial control, hospitality, real estate at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He has a master’s degree in international management from the University of Exeter and is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Alistair joined Sirius in January 2007 and took the company through its IPO. Since then, he has been responsible for the financial management of the grup, its capital structure and all investment activity. During his tenure, the company’s capital structure has been transformed to include corporate debt, while a series of capital investment programmes have resulted in significant income and capital value creation.
Commenting on the appointments, Sirius CEO Andrew Coombs said: “Over the past few years, and in spite of the pandemic, Sirius has continued to perform well operationally and also to grow. This has been achieved through a combination of direct acquisitions and asset management, as well as through our Titanium joint venture with AXA IM Alts and, most recently, via our entry into the UK with the acquisition of BizSpace.”
He explains that the group’s new management structure ensures it has the right people in the right roles to further enable Sirius to achieve its goals and continue to grow its platform. “Both Alistair and Diarmuid have been with the business for a significant amount of time and have continually outperformed in terms of delivering on their objectives.”
Andrew further adds that the role of chief investment officer allows Alistair to focus on growing the group’s portfolio by using his longstanding and market leading expertise in the industrial and business parks sector. “At the same time, Diarmuid has been responsible for extensive parts of the group’s finances for some time, working closely alongside Alistair, and is an obvious candidate to take ownership of the business critical aspects of the group’s financial operations.”
