GreenOak Real Estate has announced the acquisition of Central London asset, property and development manager Grafton Advisors from Quintain, which is wholly owned by Lone Star Real Estate Fund IV.
Grafton is the property adviser to the West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT) and was founded by managing director Nigel Kempner in 2001 in partnership with Schroder Real Estate.
The eight-person specialist Central London team will retain the Grafton Advisors name with Nigel Kempner as managing director, Ker Gilchrist as property director and Christopher Cope as development director.
Grafton will continue to operate as an independent Central London specialist asset, property and development management business with a focus on providing service to Welput.
Angus Dodd, Chief Executive of Quintain, commented: 'We have entertained a number of approaches for Grafton over the last six months and we are pleased to have completed this sale. We know GreenOak well and consider that the team, led by Nigel Kempner, will work very successfully with its new shareholder.'
Toby Phelps, European head of Investing at GreenOak, added: 'Having sold 100% of GreenOak's Central London office exposure in 2014/2015, our contrarian approach has positioned us to expand by acquiring Grafton, one of London's only independent specialist operating teams.'
The acquisition is additive and complementary to GreenOak's existing team, Phelps noted. 'Grafton's approach mirrors our own: vertically integrated as operators, focusing narrowly on a large gateway market which they penetrate deeply, deploying specialist skills and leveraging their longstanding local knowledge and relationships to their competitive advantage.'
Leon Partners advised Quintain on the sale.
