Via Outlets appoints new chief operating officer

Via Outlets, the joint venture between Hammerson, APG, Value Retail and Meyer Bergman, has appointed two newly-created senior management positions, chief operating officer and chief financial officer as it continues to push forward with expansion of its pan-European outlet portfolio.

Otto Ambagtsheer, who most recently served as managing director at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for Benelux, has been named the Via Outlets chief operating officer.

While Peter Stals will join the outlet shopping destination owner and developer as chief financial officer from BlackRock, where he has worked for nearly five years, working as vice president and then as director, serving as head of transaction support and valuations secretary for EMEA real estate.

Via Outlets currently owns a portfolio of 11 premium fashion outlets across Europe, covering over 259,000 square metres and includes over 850 brands in nine European countries. Every year, over 30 million shoppers visit the different locations in the portfolio. In 2017 it reported more than 1 billion euros in brand sales.