Martin Jepson and Christopher Cope unveil new company

Industry heavyweights Martin Jepson and Christopher Cope have teamed up to form a new business focusing on property investment, development and management. [caption id="attachment_791794" align="alignright" width="200"] Martin Jepson[/caption] Jepson was previously president and chief operating officer of Brookfield Property Partners, while Cope is the former founding partner of Grafton Advisors. The new firm, called Ergo Real Estate, will focus on forming partnerships for investment and development opportunities. It launches with a £300m partnership with insurer NFU Mutual, which aims to invest in acquisitions in London and the South East through a vehicle called Aver Property. Aver’s first purchase is 2 Brindleyplace, a 78,000 sq ft office building on the Brindleyplace estate in Birmingham. The building was acquired from Hansainvest for £29.3m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.5%. Originally constructed in 1997, 2 Brindleyplace is let to Lloyds Bank until March 2022 at a rent of £2m a year. Jepson said: “Chris and I have known each other for many years and admired each other’s projects as rivals. We decided it would be an opportune time for us to work together, delivering creative solutions to add value to properties.” In demand [caption id="attachment_965136" align="alignright" width="200"] Christopher Cope[/caption] Cope added: “We believe that there will be demand for our skill set in today’s challenging market. “Although we are best known for our work in London – Martin in the City and me in the West End – our knowledge and expertise are transferable to the major conurbations of the UK, where we see significant value-add opportunities.” Aver’s individual investments are expected to range between £10m and £50m. Richard Topps, group head of property at NFU Mutual, said: “Our new joint venture with Ergo provides us with a very exciting opportunity at this point in the property cycle to add further diversification into our property funds through exposure to different types of assets and through managers with an undoubted track record and different expertise and experience.” Between them, Jepson and Cope have completed more than 10m sq ft of developments, principally in central London. They include Stirling Square, 20 St James’s Street and 15 Golden Square in the West End and London Wall Place, Principal Place and 100 Bishopsgate (pictured) in the City. Prior to heading Brookfield’s UK operation, Jepson was managing director of London at Hammerson, and has also held executive positions at Howard Holdings, Taylor Woodrow and Delancey. Cope was a principal founding partner of Grafton Advisors, which was sold to Quintain in 2012 and, four years later, to GreenOak Real Estate, where he had the twin roles of overseeing the company’s development activities and managing and promoting the business. To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette