Savills Buying Eastdil Secured For $1.1B
A massive brokerage acquisition has been completed.
London-based Savills has reached an agreement to absorb Eastdil Secured for more than $1.1B, the companies announced Thursday. Green Street News first reported that a deal had been reached.
Eastdil Secured will keep its name and operate under its existing model while boosting Savills' real estate investment banking business, according to the announcement.
Savills is paying for Eastdil through a mix of cash and shares. To fund the cash part of the deal, Savills has taken on an $800M (£594M) one-year loan, with the remainder of the price being funded in shares.
As a result of the deal, a group of 85 top Eastdil employees will own 6% of Savills, a portion valued at about $130M based on Savills' current market capitalisation of £1.36B ($1.8B).
“We have worked with and respected Eastdil Secured for many years, and there is a strong complementary geographic and cultural alignment,” Savills Group CEO Simon Shaw said in a statement.
The move comes just months after Savills welcomed a new top executive. Shaw came in as CEO on Jan. 1, succeeding Mark Ridley, who retired at the end of 2025.
Eastdil will also refresh its leadership. Longtime CEO Roy March was named executive chairman, effective immediately, while Michael Van Konynenburg has been elevated from president to CEO. James McCaffrey, Eastdil's head of Europe, has been named president.
Van Konynenburg and McCaffrey will join Savills' board. When the merger is completed later this year, Savills will become the No. 2 brokerage for capital markets transactions of $100M or larger, according to the release.
Eastdil last traded hands in 2019 when Wells Fargo & Co. offloaded a majority share to Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of Guggenheim's clients, and Singapore-based investment company Temasek. Wells Fargo remained a minority owner.
Based in New York City, Eastdil was founded in 1967. March started at Eastdil as an intern in 1978, a decade after its founding.
“Throughout its history, Eastdil Secured has developed strategic partnerships to better serve our clients and be the most relevant and trusted advisor in the real estate investment banking industry,” March said in a statement. “This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for Eastdil Secured, which will accelerate our growth, creating new opportunities for our team and strengthening what we can deliver for clients globally.”
In addition to its traditional brokerage business, Eastdil does M&A and corporate advisory, as well as joint venture formation and structuring and capital raises. The firm is advising an investor consortium led by Affinius Capital in its planned $3.4B acquisition of Jersey City-based REIT Veris Residential.
Savills, founded in 1855, made its move to the U.S. just over a decade ago. In 2014, it acquired tenant representation firm Studley and its 25 U.S. office locations. It became known as Savills Studley in the U.S. for several years before rebranding to Savills in 2019.
In 2020, Savills acquired project management firm Macro Consultants, and in 2021, it absorbed advisory and consultation firm T3 Advisors, which specializes in life sciences and technology.
Just last week, Savills acquired Ireland-based The Building Consultancy, expanding its presence in that region after buying a Northern Ireland-based commercial property advisory firm last year.
Savills employs more than 40,000 real estate professionals in 70 countries. Eastdil has headquarters in New York, Santa Monica and London and 20 offices total.
UPDATE, MARCH 12, 8:30 A.M. ET: This story has been updated with new details about the transaction from Savills and Eastdil's press release announcing the deal.
