Quoted UK surveying firm FPDSavills has acquired a 51% stake in Weatherall Green & Smith Europe for £3.2m cash.
WGS Europe was formed last year through a management buy-out, led by Weatheralls partner Chris Bull-Diamond. It operates seven offices in Germany, France and Spain, which will be rebranded FPDSavills in November.
The UK partners of Weatherall Green & Smith retained 15% in WGS Europe in last year’s buy-out, but this has now been sold to FPDSavills; the other 36% has been sold by Chris Bull-Diamond and Hannelore Cobet, a director of WGS Europe in Germany.
Chris Bull-Diamond, who becomes a director of FPDSavills International, commented: “It is obviously not without some regret that I am leaving Weatheralls after 30 years with the firm, but we clearly needed a partner with more financial muscle and ambitions on a global scale to help us move the European business forward.”
The acquisition gives FPDSavills an immediate European presence; until now, it has had only one continental European office in the Netherlands, where it owns a 20% stake in a local business that trades as FPDSavills. Director Victoria Mitchell said the company planned to expand in Germany, France and Spain, as well as targeting Italy, Belgium and Scandinavia.
The deal means that the UK partnership of Weatherall Green & Smith no longer has a direct presence on the continent, nearly 35 years after it became the first UK surveying practice to open a European office. Instead, it has a network of local partners in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Denmark and northern and southern Ireland, which trade under the umbrella of Weatherall International.
WG&S partner Peter MacFarlane said the firm was in discussions with local firms in Germany, France and Spain to “fill the gaps” left by the sale of WGS Europe.
