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Michael Morgenroth has led the management buy-out of Signa's real estate advisory unit to focus on real estate debt funds.

The management of Signa Real Estate Advisory (Signa Read), under the leadership of Morgenroth, has acquired all the shares in the business from Austria-based Signa Group.

Morgenroth stepped down as managing director of parent company Signa Holding on 1 July. Prior to joining Signa in 2011, Morgenroth worked as CEO of Gothaer Asset Management. In April last year, he founded Signa Read where he was joined by ex-Gothaer employee Patrick Züchner as CIO. During his tenure at Gothaer, Morgenroth also served as chairman of non-listed real estate investment sector body INREV.

Headquartered in Dusseldorf, Signa Read focuses on real estate debt funds, primarily for institutional clients.

Morgenroth said he had decided to lead the management buy-out as he and his team have been active in the market for real estate debt since 2005 and had gained extensive experience in this increasingly important segment. The team is among the few in the German-speaking region that has already managed such investments for third-party investors.

Morgenroth: 'The changes in Europe's real estate refinancing structures and regulatory changes in the insurance industry make the area of real estate debt an attractive investment theme and promising business field, whose development requires our full and complete attention.'

Signa founder Rene Benko said Signa will stick to its core disciplines of investing in trophy assets in prime downtown locations, real estate development and its investment fund business. The company was founded 14 years ago and now has some €5 bn of assets, including large trophy assets, under management.

In the most recent deal, market sources named Signa as the buyer of the Theodor-Heuss-Allee 112 office building in Frankfurt from Aberdeen's Degi unit in June this year. In December 2012, Benko's company reportedly acquiring a portfolio of Karstadt department stores in Germany for €1 bn.