Current CEO, Jacques Blanchard, who is retiring after 11 years at the helm, will remain a director of MRM.

François de Varenne, chairman of MRM’s board of directors, said: 'We are pleased to welcome François Matray and to be able to capitalise on his know-how and experience.With MRM coming to the end of the investment plan initiated in 2016, these strengths constitute valuable advantages to prepare for the next stages of the company’s life and to adapt it further to changes in the retail sector.

'I would also like to praise the work done by Jacques Blanchard, thanks to whom the company can now rely on a portfolio of modernised assets with renewed momentum, as well as a solid financial position. I am delighted that the board of directors will be able to continue to benefit from his in-depth knowledge of the company and his retail property expertise.'

Under Blanchard, MRM refocused on retail after a successful recapitalisation in 2013 that resulted in the arrival of Scor as majority shareholder.

Matray joins MRM from a spell at family-owned retail and urban developer Socri REIM, where he was deputy CEO since 2018.

He began his career in 2004 at Axa IM Real Assets, where he started managing real estate investment funds across pan-European activities in 2007 before being appointed fund manager in 2011, in charge of an investment fund specialising in shopping centres in France and a listed company in Spain.