Jones Lang’s Jolly lands at Merrill

Chris Jolly, formerly co-head of corporate finance at Jones Lang LaSalle has joined Merrill Lynch as head of its European real estate business.

He has been hired as part of the US investment bank’s effort to expand its real estate capabilities in the region, and will focus on strengthening its real estate franchise in Europe, and the UK specifically. Jolly reports to Federico Aliboni, head of consumer products.

At Jones Lang LaSalle, Jolly was responsible for managing pan-European corporate finance, specializing in real estate financing across advisory, debt, equity and bank funding. Jolly has 25 years’ experience in investment banking in the UK, Europe and Japan. Before joining Jones Lang LaSalle in 2004, he was general manager of Commerzbank, London, for five years. Before that he was general manager of Société Générale, London, and a director of SG Warburg and Samuel Montagu.