Brockton Capital

Our approach

The founding philosophy of the business is to create value through a combination of (A) investing in high-growth sectors and (B) applying hands-on asset management to the buildings, businesses and interests that we own.

A) Investing in High-Growth Sectors
Brockton Capital invest into strategic sectors that show “above GDP” growth potential due to structural supply-demand imbalances, favourable demographics, social trends or technology advances (such as in the healthcare sector).

B) Asset Management Focus
Our asset management approach is focused on fundamentals such as a flexible approach to leasing, an enhancement of environmental performance and facilities management, adding net lettable / saleable space, planning upside / change of use and in the top-line revenue growth and bottom-line EBITDAR growth of the operating businesses that we own.

Who we are

Our Capital

In 2010, Brockton Capital Fund II LP closed with £500m of equity.

Brockton Capital Fund II LP was raised globally from a wide range of pension funds, insurance companies, endowments and private family offices. Like the first Fund, it invests in direct property, operating businesses that are heavily asset-backed, and property-related capital markets securities and is 100% focused on the UK market.

Brockton Capital Fund I LP consisted of £150m of equity and closed in 2006.

Our Background

Brockton Capital was formed as a partnership in 2005 by Jason Blank (ex-Merrill Lynch, Real Estate Principal Investment) and David Marks (ex-Blackstone, Real Estate Fund).

Brockton Capital comprises a team with direct experience in property investment, asset-backed operating businesses, real estate capital markets, corporate finance, construction and development, valuation, planning and asset management.

This places the firm in a strong position to successfully execute business plans in all types of real estate transactions. At present there are twelve investment professionals at Brockton Capital, including four partners.

What we invest in

In a historically inefficient asset class (such as property), returns are generated with a particular focus on asset management-intensive investments in the United Kingdom.

We undertake rigorous analysis of the sector fundamentals, physical condition of the asset, planning use and capital structure of real estate investment opportunities.

All of the team at Brockton Capital have their interests financially aligned with our investors; all professionals invest their own equity into each transaction.

Direct Real Estate

Brockton Capital invests in all types of direct Real Estate.

In addition to the office, retail and industrial sectors, Brockton Capital's management team have experience in a wide range of sectors and will consider investing in hotels, residential investments, student housing, healthcare assets, data centres, conference centres, airports, raw land, etc.

Direct investments to-date include:

• Prime West End offices
• Serviced apartments
• Prime residential developments
• Private hospitals
• Long-term development sites

Asset-backed Operating Companies

Investing in a traditional private equity style, Brockton Capital will acquire operating businesses where the majority of the total enterprise value of the firm is comprised of its owned assets.

Examples include social infrastructure (hospitals, nursing homes, airports, container ports, etc), retail businesses, leisure and hospitality (hotels, serviced apartment businesses, pubs, etc).

Asset-backed operating businesses that we have invested in to-date include:

• Healthcare, via the £2.50bn acquisition of General Healthcare Group (the UK’s largest private hospital operator), in conjunction with Apax Partners, Netcare, and London & Regional.
  
  See www.generalhealthcare.co.uk for more information.
  
  
• Pubs, via our joint venture and investment into Realpubs Limited, which is focused on well located gastropubs in Greater London.
  
  See www.realpubs.co.uk for more information.

Real Estate Capital Markets

Brockton Capital will invest in property-related capital markets securities such as debt, equities and derivatives.

Depending on market fundamentals and underlying property values, these instruments sometimes represent an opportunity to generate attractive returns.

The team at Brockton Capital have experience in asset-backed capital markets areas such as CMBS, NPL’s, single-asset distressed loan notes, REITs and real estate derivatives.

People

David Marks

Co-Managing Partner

David Marks co-founded Brockton Capital in 2005 and has 21 years of experience.

He left The Blackstone Group in 2005; he had worked there since 2001. He was a central part of the UK acquisitions team at Blackstone whilst working on the $1.3bn Blackstone Real Estate Partners International Fund.

He has been directly involved in transactions totalling £7.7bn ($11.6bn) whilst at both Brockton Capital and Blackstone.  He has originated, underwritten, financed and asset managed a wide range of properties within the UK, including shopping centres, offices, industrial / distribution, prime residential development, student housing, serviced apartments, pub operating businesses and healthcare businesses.

Prior to Blackstone, David spent 10 years at Jones Lang LaSalle (1990-2000), where he worked in both the City and West End offices in London, in New York and in the JLL Corporate Finance team.

David holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics & Modern History from the University of Manchester, UK and a Master's degree in Real Estate from MIT, Boston. David is a member of the BPF (British Property Federation) Policy Committee.

Jason Blank

Co-Managing Partner

Jason Blank co-founded Brockton Capital in 2005 and has 18 years of experience.

He left Merrill Lynch's Global Principal Investments group in 2005; he had worked there since 2001. He has participated in investments with an aggregate asset value of US$5.9 billion, in the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Indonesia. In addition, he has underwriting experience whilst evaluating transactions in China, Australia, Singapore and the United States. He has had roles originating, underwriting, executing, and asset managing transactions, as both a team member and team leader.

Prior to Merrill Lynch, Jason was an investment professional concentrating on structured real estate debt and United States government debt at MFS Investment Management, in Boston. In addition, he has experience in residential investment and redevelopment in the United States and was employed as a property manager in Washington, D.C. for two years after his graduation from university.

Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics & Jurisprudence from the University of California at Santa Cruz, a Master's degree in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tony Edgley

Partner

Tony Edgley has 31 years of experience.  Prior to becoming a Partner at Brockton Capital in January 2011, Tony was Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Finance, the FSA regulated investment banking arm of Jones Lang LaSalle. Tony was with the company for his whole career, including 8 years in New York and 2 years commuting to South East Asia. Tony had also been the Non-Executive Chairman of Brockton Capital, since its formation in 2005.

In his career, Tony has been involved in over £6 billion of transactions. He has been responsible for establishing  institutional and private equity funds and real estate companies, including The (US) Prudential's Global Program and The South-East Asia Property Company. He has followed and led international capital, acting across borders in joint ventures, corporate sales, structured finance and sale and leaseback transactions.

More recently Tony co-led the formation of the Bank Advisory team at Jones Lang LaSalle, providing strategic and tactical advice on loan recovery maximization for lenders to the sector. His major clients have included Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADIC, GIC (Singapore), The Blackstone Group, Terrace Hill, LXB, Barratts, J Sainsbury, Deutsche Telekom, London & Continental Railways, Railtrack PLC, Stanhope, Invista, Scottish Widows, The Prudential / M&G, GE Pension Fund, Mitsui Fudosan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Lloyds Banking Group.

Tony graduated from South Bank University in Estate Management. He is a member of the RICS and is a Chartered Surveyor.

David Zimmermann

Partner

David Zimmermann has 13 years of experience. He joined Brockton Capital in April 2007, having previously worked as a Manager in Property Finance at Anglo Irish Bank, the third largest real estate lender in the UK. He was responsible for both loan origination and portfolio management with a loan book of over £100m.

From 2004-06, prior to joining Anglo Irish, David worked at Canary Wharf Group plc, the largest developer of commercial space in London. During his time at Canary Wharf he was involved in numerous projects including the successful bid for the 6.5m sq ft mixed-use Wood Wharf project with an end value in excess of £2.0bn; the sale of over £1.0bn of assets; the restructuring of the group's £2.5bn securitisation; and other group and parent company refinancings of £1.6bn.

Prior to moving to London, David worked as a corporate analyst for Clough Ltd a listed, multi-disciplined Australian Engineering and Construction company with a turnover of A$1bn, as well as an analyst in the Oil and Gas team at PwC in Perth, Australia.

David graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from the University of Western Australia and received a graduate diploma in Applied Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Simon Samuels

Partner

Simon Samuels has 17 years experience. Prior to joining Brockton Capital in 2008, he was an Executive Director within the Real Estate Finance Team of Morgan Stanley's Securitised Products Group based in London. He was Head of UK Loan Origination and responsible for originating and structuring real estate debt finance for clients in the UK and Continental Europe. During his eight years at Morgan Stanley, he was involved in over £10bn of real estate transactions for private property companies, private equity firms and institutions.

Before joining Morgan Stanley in 2000, Simon spent two and a half years in NatWest Bank's Property Finance Group where he originated and structured loans for property company clients throughout the UK. Prior to NatWest (now part of the RBS Group), he worked in DTZ's investment valuation team advising banks, property companies and institutions on real estate throughout the UK and Continental Europe.

Simon has a degree in Urban Estate Management from the University of Glamorgan and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1995.

Contact us

Brockton Capital LLP
Level 1
89 Wardour Street
London
W1F 0UB

T: +44 (0) 207 220 2500
F: +44 (0) 207 734 3655