Ex-CEO Cohen sells Foxtons stake

Foxtons North America chief executive Glenn Cohen will resign and sell his stake in the discount brokerage after a controversy over its television advertising and a New Jersey investigation into its business practices.

Foxtons, its London-based parent company, announced last month it would acquire Cohen’s interest in the company known for its signature 2 percent commissions, and said that Cohen would be leaving the firm.

Foxtons founder and CEO Jon Hunt assumed control of the North American unit of the company, based in West Branch, N.J. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cohen said he hadn’t decided whether he would establish a new real estate business and was coy about his next venture.

“I’m not ready to divulge that,” Cohen told a reporter. “I’m still focusing on popping open the champagne. I started the company in my second bedroom and built it up to have 400 employees.”

Hunt said that he plans to expand the 2 percent model nationwide.