Godfrey Jacobs, who returned this year from an extended stint in the US property market, this week acquired a 45% stake in the ordinary share capital of Peterborough-based Suncrest Developments.
From December 18 he has been appointed a non-executive director of the company.
At the same time, Suncrest have acquired the whole share capital of Taprade, who control a commercial and residential portfolio in the Midlands, covering the same area as Suncrest’s existing activities.
Similarly, a deal has been agreed for the purchase by Suncrest of Binia Holdings, a commercial investment company largely owned by the Jacobs family.
According to Godfrey Jacobs, Suncrest’s purchase of Taprade will create cost benefits for the enlarged company. The plan is to sell off the residential investments in the short term and to reinvest the proceeds in prime retail properties.
Plans are to concentrate activity, initially, in the Midlands area, although holdings over a wider international area will account for part of the portfolio, with properties in Europe and the USA included in the portfolio.
In the longer term, Mr Jacobs envisages that the company will go public during the course of 1987.
Shorter term, the expectation is that two well-known West Coast USA investors will be adding their strength to the new Suncrest structure.
