After five years of marriage, Morgan Grenfell Laurie and its banking partner, Morgan Grenfell, have decided to separate.
MGL’s chairman, John Lockhart (shown here) and managing director John Sloan are leading the management buy-out; starting on January 1, a slimmed-down MGL will be operating independently.
The 1985 merger between Michael Laurie & Partners and Morgan Grenfell broke new ground. It was a move which sought to capitalise on the opportunities opened up by financial deregulation and the brave new world of financial services; the partners would work together on new methods of funding, and advise clients how best to manage their property assets.
The merger was also very much the product of two consumate dealmakers: Elliott Bernerd of Michael Laurie and Roger Seelig at Morgan Grenfell. The two men had served together on the board of Stockley, and saw the potential synergy in combining their talents. But after the Guinness scandal, Seelig left Morgan Grenfell. In 1987 Bernerd resigned from MGL, and others have followed him out the door.
Moreover, five years on, the world has changed; banks are paying the price for over-ambitious expansion, and big is not necessarily beautiful. “The rationale for this MBO now — the first of its kind in the surveying world — is that in current market conditions a flexible and rapid reaction to property opportunities is advantageous,” says John Lockhart. “We wish to further increase productivity by freeing up maximum management time, thereby giving an even better service to our clients.”
He calls MGL’s relationship with its parent “positive and fruitful”, but to outside observers the partnership never fulfilled its early promise.
