London-listed international real estate services provider Savills is acquiring Manhattan-based real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured in a deal that values the latter at some US$1.11 billion ($1.41 billion).
The combined group will be the number two advisory firm globally for prime commercial real estate transactions above US$100 million, according to MSCI data for 2021 to 2025.
After the deal is completed, Eastdil Secured will continue to operate its existing business model within Savills Group, as the group’s real estate investment bank and will maintain key headquarters in New York, Santa Monica and London.
According to a March 13 announcement, the Eastdil Secured leadership team and Eastdil Secured’s senior employees will all receive consideration shares and become shareholders in Savills in exchange for their existing interests in Eastdil Secured.
According to a report by Mingtiandi, Eastdil’s 85 senior employees will collectively hold 6.3% of the enlarged Savills upon completion.
In connection with the transaction, Eastdil Secured’s current CEO Roy H. March has been appointed executive chairman of Eastdil Secured, responsible for client advisory, execution and long-term strategy.
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D. Michael Van Konynenburg, currently president, will take on the role of CEO of Eastdil Secured.
Eastdil Realty was founded in 1967 by Benjamin V. Lambert in New York, pioneering an investment banking approach to real estate advisory.
In 1999, Wells Fargo acquired Eastdil Realty, strengthening the platform with the resources of a leading financial institution. In 2006, Eastdil Realty and Secured Capital Corp, the real estate investment banking firm co-founded in 1990 by Van Konynenburg and other former executives of Drexel Burnham Lambert, merged to create Eastdil Secured.
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In 2019, Roy H. March and the firm’s management team led a buyout of Eastdil Secured, in partnership with Guggenheim, Temasek and Wells Fargo. The US bank retained a minority stake.
Simon Shaw, group CEO of Savills, says: “Eastdil Secured is an organisation we have worked with and admired for many years. It has a complementary geographical footprint and similar culture to our own. This acquisition is a significant step forward for both of us, bringing to the global investment community a much-needed choice of leading advisory partner to deliver a comprehensive suite of investment banking, strategic, financial, development, leasing and other ‘boots on the ground’ property solutions.”
