Savills, the London-listed real estate advisory firm, has agreed to buy Eastdil Secured Holdings, the real estate investment bank, for an enterprise value of $1,112.5 million (£827 million) to create what the duo described as a global real estate powerhouse.
The two companies said the tie-up creates a leading provider of capital markets solutions with a "complete service offering". They said the combined group would be the number two adviser globally for prime commercial real estate transactions above $100 million, and number one in the United States.
Eastdil has also announced a string of changes to its senior leadership roles to enable the takeover, saying it will maintain its joint headquarters in New York, Santa Monica and London and retain its current business model.
In a stock market announcement as it reported its final results Savills said the transaction would be funded through debt and the issue of new ordinary shares in Savills – about 16% of the group's enlarged share capital – to the ultimate holders of equity interests in Eastdil Secured.
The Mipim real estate conference has been dominated by talk about the tie up since news emerged on Wednesday night, not least as advisers pick over the bones of joint instructions between the two.
Speaking to CoStar News, Simon Shaw, Group Chief Executive officer, Savills explained: "Eastdil is a business I have wanted to tie up with for a number of years. We know them very well because we have worked with them and against them in EMEA. The best way to understand the culture is when trading blows over a deal."
Shaw said he believed in this industry there no two other large services organisations that fit together so well.
"There is an almost complete absence of overlap in terms of geography and client space. In the US we will now have the class one capital markets leading adviser. There is a fantastic opportunity now to spread that offer across Asia Pacific with the boots on the ground we have. It is incredibly exciting."
Shaw said the deal had been done at a very fair price to all parties. "It was £685 million and accretive on every measure. Importantly 40% of the price is in equity, a decent amount of which is going into senior hands at Eastdil with sensible lock ins. It is structured really fairly."
In terms of future branding, Shaw said: "We are comfortable that the Eastdil Secured name is front and centre in the real estate investment banking service line - they are the best brand in the world there. But we are I think the best brand in the world in the other areas. You will see from future branding how we keep this clear. The investment banking business at Eastdil operates on one profit and loss and bonus scheme and we do not. So trying to put those together does not work. We will work on the modus operandi now on how we bring the businesses together."
In terms of germination of the deal Shaw said he reached out to Eastdil well over a year ago now as the business's owners began a process seeking an exit. "We really started to get involved in the potential of collaboration then."
Savills' new group finance director Nick Sanderson said: "When I started Simon said we've got ambition and you see it here - this is only the start. There is a huge amount to do on the execution but it is super compelling for clients and shareholders."
In 2025, Eastdil Secured generated revenue of $633 million (£470 million) and underlying earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortisation of $113 million (circa £84 million).
Explaining the rationale, Savills said the transaction positions it as a global leader in real estate advisory services and transforms its positioning in real estate investment banking in both North America and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, in line with its strategy.
It said the move combines "highly complementary and diversified service lines and geographic footprints" and that would create a world-class global platform offering a broad suite of real estate advisory services across all key sectors to a "blue-chip investor client base".
Savills described the Eastdil Secured business as an exceptional and committed leadership team with a strong track record of profitable growth that has a strong cultural fit with its own "client-first ethos".
It also jet-propels the delivery of Savills' plans to grow its North American operations with an improved position there and in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and creates a higher-margin enlarged business overall. It expects the takeover to generate significant growth opportunities for the group in addition to direct revenue synergies of at least £60 million in revenue and £15 million EBITDA a year over the medium-term.
The enterprise value for the transaction represents a multiple of 9.9 times Eastdil Secured's underlying EBITDA for 2025.
Savills describes it as significantly earnings-enhancing and expected to deliver low-to-mid teens accretion in underlying earnings per share in 2027. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur in the second quarter or third quarter of 2026.
Eastdil Secured is a leading player and pioneer in real estate investment banking with approximately 650 employees of which around 450 are client facing. It has 20 offices across the United States, Europe and Asia.
The pair added that since 2011, Eastdil Secured has advised on more than 9,800 real estate transactions worth $3 trillion. They also said that over 2011-2025, Eastdil Secured has been the top adviser for commercial real estate transactions over $100 million in the United States.
For Savills, Eastdil Secured brings both expertise in and exposure to the high-growth digital infrastructure sector in North America. In 2025, the Eastdil business generated $633 million (£470 million) of revenue, of which 76% was generated in North America and 24% in EMEA.
The move grows Savills' ability to generate higher-margin REIB transactional revenues, and, in particular, more recurrent real estate debt advisory revenue where Eastdil Secured is a leader, it said.
Transactional revenues would now represent 48% of the enlarged group's pro forma 2025 revenue, in comparison with 38% for Savills on a standalone basis.
The duo said there is a strongly complementary nature in the two firms' geographic coverage, with Savills' established presence in EMEA and APAC alongside Eastdil Secured's leading North American position. The enlarged group's 2025 pro forma revenue is approximately £3 billion, generated 53% from EMEA, 24% from APAC and 23% from North America.
Savills is also eyeing strong market "tailwinds" specific to Eastdil Secured's markets in the the near- to medium-term. It says these include: a substantial number of global real estate closed-end funds approaching the end of their investment periods and therefore needing to transact; the significant capital requirements of the digital infrastructure sector; and a significant amount of commercial real estate debt maturities requiring refinancing, recapitalisation or asset disposals. The transactional and capital markets benefits will create a significant "halo effect" on Savills' ancillary leasing, consultancy and property management service lines, it said.
Breakdown of transaction
As laid out in the announcement, the transaction would see Savills buy Eastdil Secured for a total consideration of $921.25 million (circa £685 million) comprising $552.75 million payable in cash on completion and $368.50 million via the allotment and issue of 27,658,880 new Savills ordinary shares. The transaction is not subject to shareholder approval but is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
In total, 85 Eastdil Secured senior employees would hold a 6.3% interest in Savills, and there would be "long-term lock-ups" for staff.
The principal divesting institutional investors in Eastdil Secured are Temasek, institutional clients of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management and Wells Fargo.
Eastdil Secured also announced the planned executive leadership appointments to enable the transaction. Roy March, currently chief executive, has been appointed executive chairman of Eastdil Secured. In the role, he will continue to focus on client advisory, execution, and long-term strategy. Michael Van Konynenburg, the president, has been appointed CEO Eastdil Secured, where he will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations.
James McCaffrey, currently managing director and Head of Europe, has been appointed President of Eastdil Secured. He will continue to spearhead Eastdil Secured's international growth efforts from London.
Van Konynenburg and McCaffrey will both join the Savills group executive board and lead the enlarged group's REIB business which will operate as Eastdil Secured Savills, the global real estate investment bank.
Simon Shaw, group chief executive of Savills said in a statement: "Eastdil Secured is an organisation we have worked with and admired for many years. It has a complementary geographical footprint and similar culture to our own. This acquisition is a significant step forward for both of us, bringing to the global investment community a much-needed choice of leading advisory partner to deliver a comprehensive suite of investment banking, strategic, financial, development, leasing and other "boots on the ground" property solutions. By acquiring a leading REIB provider with strong presence in the US and EMEA, the improved breadth of our services and enhanced global footprint will create significant growth opportunities for the combined Group's staff and significant value to both our clients and shareholders".
Roy March, executive chairman of Eastdil Secured, added: "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. This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for Eastdil Secured, which will accelerate our growth, create opportunities for our team and significantly enhance our ability to provide best-in-class real estate investment banking services for our valued clients globally. As part of Savills, Eastdil Secured will continue to serve as a trusted advisor and provide clients with unmatched capital markets and commercial real estate expertise, now with more resources as part of a larger organisation with complementary geographic reach and advisory capabilities. The Savills team shares our commitment to excellence and our emphasis on discretion, collaboration and insight-driven execution. We look forward to continuing to grow and deliver for our clients and partners as part of this enhanced industry-leading global platform".
Analysts from investment bank Keefe, Bruyette and Woods noted Eastdil was a competitor, and said: "The main positive read-through, in our view, is that the deal could be viewed as a vote of confidence in relationship-driven advisory at a time when AI disintermediation risks have weighed on the CRE Services sector."
This story will be updated with reaction.