About

Formerly a partner with Mayer Brown in Frankfurt, Matthias Meckert took over as head of legal for PGIM Real Estate in Germany and Luxembourg in 2013. Meckert recalls the company was undergoing a transition period when he joined, which allowed him to stamp his own authority on an up-and-coming function. He explains: ‘When I joined PGIM Real Estate, it was in the process of a major restructure of the German business, and two new managing directors joined during this time. Concurrently, the law department was also reconfigured which gave me the opportunity to start with a blank slate’. Meckert approached this task in a number of ways. ‘There was an opportunity to review how the law department fulfils its roles in providing legal advice to the business and controlling risk’, he explains, ‘and during this review the legal team in Germany was completely rebuilt and I took over responsibility for the Luxembourg legal team. I also worked to organise PGIM Real Estate into a European hub for funds (which involved overcoming some regulatory challenges), and the portfolio of outside firms we work with in continental Europe was reviewed and significantly reduced’. Having successfully made these changes, resulting in ‘greater consistency, transparency and efficiency’, Meckert set about supporting the company in some high profile acquisitions. ‘I was involved in the acquisition of the “Austria Campus’”, recalls Meckert, ‘which was the largest real estate transaction in Austria that year. I was also involved in the acquisition and sale of a portfolio of 117 retail properties across Germany in several tranches, one of which was from a distressed seller for over €400m. Finally, I oversaw the acquisition, development, and re-letting of Junghof Plaza, a prominent office building in Frankfurt’. His role on these and a number of other major projects, his reorganisation of the company’s legal function and the high-level risk management support and innovation (including ‘leveraging artificial intelligence in relation to lease due diligence’) show Meckert to be a highly versatile lawyer who excels in multiple areas.