Ex-Goldman Sachs banker takes Dutch developer to next level

Jeppe de Boer's recent appointment as the new CEO of OVG marks a new phase for the Rotterdam-based development company.

De Boer brings with him an impressive track record in the world of real estate finance. After working for CBRE and ABN Amro in the Netherlands, he crossed the Channel at the beginning of the new millennium to work as a banker in the City of London with Goldman Sachs. That move was followed by a posting in Moscow as Managing Director of Renaissance Group, a private investment organisation with more than 1,000 employees. In 2012, OVG's founder Coen van Oostrom lured De Boer back to his home country as Chief Investment Officer (CIO).

The move was widely viewed as a master stroke. Since its foundation in 1997, OVG has shaken up the Dutch development sector with a simple but effective strategy focussed on the wishes of tenants from Danone to Deloitte.
Indeed, by putting the tenant rather than the building first, the Rotterdam-based developer has managed to stay afloat in the post-Lehman era which has felled the likes of ING Real Estate and MAB and brought other giants like Multi Development to its knees.

In the future, the success of a developer will depend increasingly on finding financiers and investors and for an independent developer like OVG with an office pipeline of €500 mln, access to the capital market is key. In that sense, De Boer's profile is a natural fit with the needs of the company.

Following his appointment last year, De Boer set up an investment team with Just Pereboom as director capital markets and Boudewijn Ruitenburg as director special situations. Pereboom is a former Prologis executive and Ruitenburg was formerly employed with Unibail Rodamco, both of them companies with excellent contacts with the financial sector. Just over a year later, De Boer is ready for his next challenge at OVG where he is taking over Van Oostrom's duties in the Netherlands.

The appointment does not mean that Van Oostrom is stepping down from the company he founded or planning to work less, De Boer said. 'He is our rainmaker, our inspiration and the man with the contacts which we will continue to use where possible. To understand what's happening in the organisation, you need to look at how OVG Netherlands is structured. Every project development is effectively a separate business. With 14 active developments and investments, that means we effectively run 14 different companies which together indirectly employ 4,000 people. In addition our new business and innovations team is busy with a number of new development opportunities. Managing a total of around 20 existing and new companies at the same time was always a challenge, but it's now even more complex because development procedures are longer and more challenging. Until recently, you could win the game in the first half: with permits and tenants, the rest more or less happened by itself. New project developments are not decided in the second half, but in overtime, sometimes even with penalty kicks. Long-term commitments with tenants, financiers and investors require a new organisation with new competences and incentives. In the past it was more look a group of Indians shooting buffaloes.'

The search for new sources of funding has prompted De Boer to make regular visits to London, effectively broadening his role as CEO of OVG Netherlands. De Boer: 'We need to build a bridge to the international capital market. That is the most important thing for the Dutch real estate industry and also for OVG which has by far the most projects in the Netherlands. As supervisory board member, I am also involved in the Humbult Hafen Eins project in Berlin and as CIO in the Pollux office centre in Frankfurt, where OVG is doing the project management on behalf of PGGM. But my main focus is on the Netherlands.'

The full interview appears in the September issue of PropertyEU.