Pictured above: Gary Cardin
• Deloitte/DJ identify major growth opportunity in
£2bn real estate advisory market;
• Deloitte and Drivers Jonas to form £110m Real
Estate Group;
• Combined Real Estate Group to trade as 'Drivers Jonas
Deloitte';
• Ambitious expansion, acquisition and hiring plans for the
new group.
Drivers Jonas LLP, the oldest firm of real estate advisors in
the world, is to merge with Deloitte, the business advisory firm.
The merger will create one of the largest real estate businesses in
Europe, with a "Drivers Jonas Deloitte" group of around 700
partners and staff. In what will be a new model in the real estate
advisory market, the merger will revolutionise how property
services are provided.
The combined Real Estate Group, with annual revenues in excess
of £110m, will deliver real estate advisory and transaction
expertise to the firm's clients in all markets and industries.
It will also form a critical part of Deloitte's wider
£200m Real Estate industry team, which specialises in
providing professional services to real estate clients.
The deal will see over 650 DJ partners and employees join
Deloitte in an innovative move for an accountancy firm. Nick
Shepherd, Managing Partner of Drivers Jonas, will become Managing
Partner of the Real Estate Group, which will trade as Drivers Jonas
Deloitte, and he will join the Deloitte Executive.
Nick Shepherd, Managing Partner of Drivers Jonas, commented:
"This is a merger of two premium brands and two top performing
teams, each already delivering huge market impact. The merger of
our partnership with Deloitte provides a fantastic platform from
which to build our advisory and transactions business and further
develop our service offering in the capital markets through greater
leverage and a more substantial capital base.
"The wider Deloitte business gives unparalleled access to
international investors, property companies, sovereign wealth funds
and high net worth individuals, who play such a key role in the
operation of the capital markets. We see huge opportunity in
combining Deloitte's real estate skills and wider business
expertise with our full range of property and construction
services. No competitor will be able to provide an integrated offer
combining real estate knowledge, tax, finance and structuring
advice in this way to UK and international investors and
occupiers.
"With a real estate offer as comprehensive as any in the market
place, and fully integrated to meet the wider business needs of
clients, Drivers Jonas Deloitte will be fundamentally different
from any other property business. I'm excited to be leading such a
talented team in creating a new approach to the real estate market,
with the immediate goal to double the size of our business in 3
years."
He added: "Now is the perfect time in the cycle to make this
change, and we expect to be very busy hiring and acquiring in the
short term. We see this as an excellent opportunity for our staff
to flourish in the wider dynamic, progressive and forward thinking
Deloitte environment. Both practices are committed to their people
and this is reflected in us both appearing in the higher tiers of
"Best Companies to Work for".
"We are certain that our clients will benefit from the wider
palette of professional services and business insight this
combination will offer, building on the exceptional quality of
service they experience from both DJ and Deloitte. This merger
keeps DJ's name in the market, something both parties wanted to
maintain."
John Connolly, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte,
commented: "The real estate advisory market was valued at around
£2bn in 2009. We see a clear opportunity to combine the
skills of our specialists in tax, corporate finance, business
consulting and our real estate strategy team with the Drivers Jonas
team which has an outstanding reputation providing the highest
quality independent advice in this market.
"This is a very exciting transaction, which will truly
differentiate us in this sector. Together Deloitte and Drivers
Jonas will offer an unrivalled breadth and depth of services and
expertise. DJ is notable for the scale and strength of its
transaction and advisory services, and the quality and independence
of its real estate research, making it the obvious choice to
significantly extend Deloitte's real estate offer. The combination
of DJ's high calibre people and position in the market with the
considerable expertise and breadth we already offer in this field,
will give clients access to a compelling, independent, real estate
proposition. Deloitte and DJ have worked alongside each other over
many years, and we have the highest regard for the culture,
integrity and professionalism of their people. We are hugely
looking forward to working together as one firm in the future.
"Our firm has a history of rapid growth through innovative moves
in the market. This is a significant step in our ambition to be
uniquely positioned as a provider of the broadest range of high
value advisory services to support our clients. The DJ teams
in France and Germany will complement the presence already
established in a number of countries across Europe."
Gary Cardin, head of Drivers Jonas Birmingham said: "It is very
rare to be part of a business which challenges itself and drives
its agenda forward with vision and purpose. This merger is an
exciting opportunity for both Deloitte and Drivers Jonas and
provides the best platform to develop our businesses. I'm equally
sure that our clients will recognise our forward thinking and the
benefits that will accrue. I look forward to forging our business
through Drivers Jonas Deloitte where both firms have a long
standing mutual respect. I am hugely excited by the proposition and
look forward to working with Richard Edwards and the real estate
team at Deloitte to maximise a wide range of existing and new
business opportunities."
Pictured above: Richard Edwards
Richard Edwards, Midlands practice senior partner at Deloitte,
concluded: "Drivers Jonas has established a significant presence in
Birmingham and a reputation as one of the leading property advisory
and consultancy firms in the region. The business will complement
Deloitte's real estate practice in Birmingham, which, like Drivers
Jonas, has a market leading reputation, and will enhance Deloitte's
real estate services offering.
"I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Gary Cardin
for a number of years and I really look forward to working with him
and his team more closely in the future."
The transaction is expected to complete in March 2010.