Investors enter the limelight

Each year brings changes in real estate. Perhaps they are not always revolutionary but the emphasis is different every year. The last few years have been marked by the blossoming of the investment segment. Investors are no longer satisfied with single properties or even entire portfolios. Over the last dozen or so months there has been an extraordinary crop of acquisitions of real estate companies across the region. From small ones to some of the largest players, chief among them Echo Investment and TriGranit. The latter transaction is significant because last year the person who received our lifetime achievement award was Sándor Demján – the founder of the Hungarian developer. As is often the case with active people, he is not planning to rest on his laurels just yet, and so will be continuing his adventure in real estate under the Granit Management brand. The negotiations over the acquisition of the stake in Echo Investment held b