La Salle – the US real estate giant in merger talks with Jones Lang Wootton – claims to have the largest real estate management services company in the States after agreeing terms in a $180m deal with Lend Lease to buy two of its businesses.
La Salle is set to acquire COMPASS, a management and leasing business with operations in the UK, the US, Australia and Brazil as well as Lend Lease’s US-based property management business.
According to LaSalle, it will pay Lend Lease $180m, with provisions for an earnout payment of up to $77.5m over five years and will incur around $10.6m in costs.
Both businesses will be combined under the banner of LaSalle Partners Management Services. Based in Chicago, it will have approximately 37m sq m (400m sq ft) of office, retail and industrial assets under management.
Stuart Scott, chairman and chief executive officer of LaSalle Partners Inc, said: “This combination of industry leaders would provide the high-quality, value-added, integrated real estate services that clients require in this dynamic economic environment.”
LaSalle’s retail portfolio will be boosted with the acquisition of up to 2.78 m sq m (30m sq ft) in 36 regional malls, shopping centres and community centres across the US. It already has some 20 regional malls in its portfolio.
David Higgins, managing director of Lend Lease, said: “LL intends to focus on expanding our core investment management business world-wide. We determined that COMPASS needs to grow in scale to continue to prosper as a property and facilities manager, and it is more advantageous for us to sell this real estate services business in order to give it that scale than to grow it ourselves.”
EGi News 01/09/98
