Henk Deist, Chief Financial Officer for Atterbury Europe has been instrumental in sealing the recent deal in Cyprus. We talked travel with this “roaming CFO”

How did you become part of the Atterbury team and when did you start in your new position as CFO on Atterbury Europe?
It is actually quite interesting. I was starting to look for something else after 11 years heading RMB’s mining finance division. Louis and I know each other from varsity, and he asked me whether I knew someone who’d be interested in the position at Atterbury Europe. I offered my own services. That was in November 2013 and I started on 1 March 2014.

Who is Henk when he is at home?
I went to school and varsity in Pretoria and we moved to Johannesburg when I started working in the banking sector. My wife is a GP there now, my oldest daughter is going to high school next year and the younger daughter is in Grade 6 next year. They are now well settled there and won’t move back to Pretoria and I commute to where I need to be – Pretoria, Amsterdam, Cyprus, Vienna, Serbia and so on!

Will you be moving to Cyprus to be close to the new AE developments?
No. Our development team intends to send someone there to oversee the developments in Cyprus, but Atterbury Europe in general is run from our services company in Austria. From there it is a short flight to reach our target assets and in time we need to create a core competency in all the disciplines of development, asset management and finance there. I will probably remain a “roaming” CFO.

On a personal level, what have you enjoyed about travelling to Cyprus?
I spent quite a lot of time there, and the island is relatively small so I probably saw most of the worthwhile places there. I enjoyed the old town of Nicosia, traditional Cypriot food as well as the holiday areas of Paphos to the west and Ayia Napa to the east. We were also fortunate to spend a day on a yacht off the Cypriot coast.

It is all business when you go, or do you have time to play tourist for a bit? If not, what is on your wish list in terms of things to get to there?
In Cyprus I had extra time to play tourist, but in the other destinations we are investigating it is mostly work. Once the deal is done, on return visits, I would like to explore more about the country and its history.

Aside from your passport, what is the one thing you never travel without?
Proper earphones make in-flight movies much better, so I always take my Bose ones.

Business travel is one thing, but what is your favourite holiday travel destination?
In South Africa it is Struisbaai. In Europe, I think I like Italy most. Unfortunately, we are not considering any Italian property acquisitions at the moment.

What’s your secret to effective business travel?
The most important thing is careful planning, making sure there is enough time to get from point A to B. And don’t try to do too much in one trip.

The deal with Cyprus was signed in July, what has happened in the interim? What is the next step?
Next deal is Serbia, we are working hard to close there. My role is dual – the deal implementation as well as subsequent financial reporting.

Any particular challenges that you are looking forward to in terms of this collaboration?
In Cyprus we have acquired the entire asset – there we have the challenge to run an asset from a geographical distance. In Serbia, we intend to have a partner and partnerships again have their unique challenges. Each deal has its unique challenges – that is what keeps it interesting.