John Copson has kept a low profile in the last year since his property company reportedly allocated $200m for the purchase of tracts of land in Auckland.
In early 2018, Crown Group, which was founded by Copson, revealed Copson Holdings had allocated $200 million to acquire what was described as “well-located New Zealand commercial property with strategic upside.” One such acquisition was the 9000m² Auckland Hyundai and Isuzu yards on Greenlane’s so-called Golden Mile, which was bought for $25.5m.
Now in his late 50s, Copson has spent more than 30 years in the finance and insurance sectors and founded the Autosure New Zealand and Crown Insurance businesses that were sold to Vero for $68 million in 2004. He then went on to create Westar Capital before establishing the Crown Asia Pacific Group, which is managed by Chris Arbuckle and Chad Cathcart.
Crown's Takapuna headquarters on Auckland's North Shore, where it has led the development of the commercial beachfront, represents Copson's old stamping ground. As a boy he went to Rosmini College and his continued support for the school is represented in the naming of the John Copson Pavilion at its sports ground in 2014.
Photo: NewsPixNZ
2018: $340 million