Podcast: Meyer Bergman talks strategy

Meyer Bergman is eyeing up the UK, German and Polish market for retail portfolio opportunities, according to chief executive Markus Meijer, who was speaking on today’s monthly Property Week podcast.

In a Property Week International special edition of the podcast, Meijer joined former Apprentice star James Max at Property Week studios, confiding that his retail-focused investment company is currently favouring the UK, Germany, Scandanavia and Poland as top retail investment destinations in Europe.

As part of a wide-ranging interview, Meijer said that the Turkish market was likely to mirror the success of Poland because it has a similarly large population and a growing economy, shielding it from the woes surrounding the Eurozone crisis.

Meijer said: “We’ve been very happy with our investments in Poland.

There has been strong retail growth because it has a large population, larger than the other Central and Eastern European markets and a large internal economy.

“We like Turkey for the same reasons as Poland. It has a large internal economy that is less exposed to external shocks, and a young population.

“It’s definitely on the map for the large retail brands. You need to choose your partners very wisely, particularly if there is a development element to the investment. In a market like Turkey we would probably do more of a portfolio transaction because it is further away from home.”