Group SP is part of the privately owned CNG Family of Companies and is headed by Sanjeev C. Patel, our principal whose background successfully combines real estate, finance and entrepreneurship.
Senior Management
Sanjeev C. Patel Founder
Sanjeev C. Patel is involved with the selection of suitable investment properties, creating the most advantageous capital structure and raising the required finance. Sanjeev works alongside the team in repositioning the assets and then with the subsequent sale or refinance.
He has significant experience of negotiating finance agreements with different stakeholders such as investment banks and local government departments. His experience has been gained from building Group SP and PPP Capital and by working in the UK, the US and Continental Europe.
Previously, Sanjeev was an analyst with Citibank (now Citigroup) in London, and Bond Capital (now Bond Companies) in Los Angeles. He understands the importance of thorough research and due diligence before making investment decisions, as well as the need continuously to monitor the investment landscape once such decisions are made.
He has spearheaded Group SP’s growth, leading the acquisition, repositioning and redevelopment of several of PPP Capital’s assets within the UK and in Poland through CNG Polska, its sister investment and development company. He has also established CNG Business Services, an outsourcing company specialised in helping retail brands reach the independent sector.
Ken BradleyChief Accountant
Ken Bradley qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Nottingham. He joined Coopers & Lybrand in their computer audit department where he developed in-depth knowledge of various computer systems and programming languages. Since then Ken has gained significant experience in the retail industry, applying his finance and technology skills there and he has added considerable real estate experience since he joined The CNG Family of Companies team in 2001. He is responsible for the finance, reporting and technology side of the business.
Real Estate with Multidisciplinary Expertise
At Group SP, our single-minded focus on real estate and our multidisciplinary expertise allows us to provide comprehensive solutions in the fields of investment, development and asset management, primarily for PPP Capital.
We are well-versed in the complexities of real estate investing. We have been developing our expertise since CNG’s first investments in the early 1970s. As the financial and capital markets become ever more complex and volatile, they require a high degree of acumen to profit from them, which is one of our core skills. Our real estate investment rationale is grounded in comprehensive research and technical analysis to capitalise on asset mispricing and to maximize returns.
We Add Value to Portfolios
Real estate adds diversification to a balanced investment portfolio. Its returns are weakly correlated with bonds and equities, and consequently it can reduce overall portfolio volatility. Moreover, as we target several different markets and various real estate asset classes: retail, commercial, industrial and residential, both in the UK and across Continental Europe, this diversification further reduces portfolio risk.
Our Investment Philosophy is Value-Driven
Our investment philosophy is value driven. We look for properties of sufficient size that will respond positively to the experience, knowledge and capital we can provide. These properties must have realisable potential in the current marketplace and in situations where there is more than one scenario under which the investment can succeed.
There are often fads in investment patterns, such as the recent residential buy-to-let boom and the commercial investment bubble. We, however, only pursue investments that have a fundamental investment rationale, and we take a contrarian view if we feel the situation so requires. We have a strong grasp of the risks inherent in specific properties and transactions. We analyse risk parameters in great detail and only advise to enter into investments with more than one exit route identified at the outset.
We understand that real estate is a capital-intensive asset: to protect your investment, you must buy right, obtain proper financing and sell at the right price. While we are driven to deliver strong rates of return, our primary concern is to protect the capital that is invested. We proactively manage assets on an individual basis to maximise their returns.