A significant milestone in WDP’s growth in France: WDP is opening an office in Paris, led by a new Country Manager, François Le Levier. This office will serve as the hub for a local team managing the French platform and further consolidating WDP’s position in the French market. Until recently, François Le Levier was Managing Director Industrial & Logistics at CBRE France.
Simultaneously, WDP reinforced its corporate organisational structure in line with its pan-European growth ambitions. The CEO, CFO and a newly created position of COO, will now steer the company’s growth from the various geographical platforms through the Executive Committee, supported by group-level teams. Michiel Assink, formerly Country Manager for WDP The Netherlands and Germany, has taken on the role of WDP COO.
„We are delighted to welcome François Le Levier to our team. With his impressive track record, deep expertise in the French logistics real estate market, and perfect cultural fit with WDP, François is ideally positioned to further develop our presence in one of Europe’s largest logistics real estate markets alongside a dedicated local team. With Michiel Assink as COO, we ensure #TeamWDP’s agility, efficiency, and dynamism to successfully transform opportunities in our core regions into lasting value creation”, Joost Uwents – CEO WDP.
Opening of office in Paris under François Le Levier, WDP Country Manager France
Since late 2023, WDP has announced over 450 million euros in new investments in France, bringing the total portfolio in France to around 700 million euros (upon completion of current projects and investments).
From now on, the continued consolidation in France will be managed from a dedicated WDP office in Paris, led by newly appointed Country Manager for WDP in France, François Le Levier. With over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, François built an impressive career at CBRE in Paris, where he was Managing Director of the Industrial & Logistics division until recently. He has become a leading figure within the French industrial and logistics real estate sector. His in-depth expertise and strategic insight will support WDP’s ambitions to expand its position in the French property market. Under his leadership, and fully aligned with the strategy implemented in the other core markets, a local French WDP team, with knowledge of the French logistics property market and its end users, will further expand the portfolio through in-house project development and acquisitions of value-add warehouses and logistics parks that support the clients operationally.
„I am extremely happy to join the WDP team and contribute to this ambitious pan-European journey. Together with a strong local team, we will develop sustainable logistics solutions that support our clients while strengthening WDP’s growth and position in this important market”, François Le Levier – Country Manager WDP France.
Organisational structure supports pan-European ambitions
The #BLEND2027 growth plan, with its multiple-driver strategy, aims to further accelerate WDP towards a fully-fledged pan-European logistics platform in the coming years. Staying true to its DNA of client-centricity and innovative entrepreneurship with #TeamWDP as a crucial and effective link, the company’s organizational structure has been strengthened accordingly to focus on sustainable long-term growth in earnings per share.
From an Executive Committee role, CEO Joost Uwents, CFO Mickaël Van den Hauwe and the newly created COO role will drive WDP’s growth and drive the effectiveness of the country teams. They are supported by the various teams at the group level. WDP proudly appoints Michiel Assink as COO. Until recently, he was Country Manager for WDP The Netherlands and Germany. Under his leadership and thanks to his operational, organisational and commercial excellence, WDP The Netherlands has grown into a strong and high-performance WDP platform in recent years.
