Deloitte Ireland has appointed Dessie Kilkenny as managing director, with responsibility for real estate mergers and acquisitions.

Mr Kilkenny joins Deloitte from CBRE, where he held a key position within their capital markets division, advising clients on numerous of Ireland’s largest real-estate deals. The most recent of these was the sale for €562 million of the Blanchardstown Centre to US-headquartered investor Strategic Value Partners (SVP).

Commenting on the appointment, Daniel Lockley, partner and head of Deloitte Ireland’s Real Estate debt and capital advisory team, said: “We believe that now is the right time for us to further develop our real estate offering in Ireland. Dessie’s appointment is an important part of that. This investment will help our clients to plan, develop, finance and sell real-estate assets in the Irish and international markets. We are the first professional services firm to have secured a property licence from the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA).”

Mr Kilkenny said: “With Ireland likely to see continued population growth over the next 15 years, Irish real estate will need to develop and evolve. Our newly formed real estate M&A division will allow Deloitte to deliver an end-to-end real estate service.”