Jones Lang LaSalle, Meghraj merge

The 50:50 real estate consultancy has set a target of $150 million in revenues by 2009.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), an integrated global real estate services and money management firm, and Trammell Crow Meghraj (TCM), a privately held real estate services company, have merged to form Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

The two entities will have 50:50 shareholding in this new venture, which has set a target of $150 million in revenues by 2009. The company plans to establish offices in five more cities and have 44 million square feet under management across the country, with its head office in New Delhi. Earlier this month, the Meghraj Group bought over a 30 per cent stake of Trammell Crow in their joint venture.

JLL, with a 2006 revenue of over $2 billion, provides real estate and investment management expertise to owner, occupier and investor clients and has a portfolio of over 1 billion square feet under management globally. The combined revenue of the new entity will be to the tune of $69 million.

TCM, a part of the Meghraj Group, is involved in private financial services in the UK and has diverse business interests.

"TCM was built with a vision to provide end-to-end real estate services in India. Over the last decade, this has translated into a phenomenal growth for TCM on the ground. In forging an alliance with Jones Lang LaSalle in India, this vision has been furthered as the international standing and robustness of Jones Lang LaSalle matches the drive and entrepreneurial spirit that lies at the core of TCM India's business model," said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (previous managing director of TCM).

"This merger will help us serve the needs of foreign investors and overseas corporates," added Puri. Currently, the company has clients ranging from Microsoft to Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Pantaloon and DLF.

The merger enables Jones Lang LaSalle, which has an integrated global platform with about 160 offices in over 450 cities in 50 countries, to immediately scale up its operations in India, one of the fastest-growing economies, and strengthen its depth of resources in the local market.

Both Jones Lang LaSalle's and TCM's senior management will hold top positions in the combine, and all their employees will function in similar capacities and roles within the combined organisation.

Anuj Puri will oversee the operations of the new entity as chairman and country head, along with Vincent Lottefier, the previous country head of Jones Lang LaSalle in India, who has been appointed chief executive officer, India.

Two other key senior executives in the new entity are Santhosh Kumar (TCM) and Gagan Singh (Jones Lang LaSalle), who will both assume the roles of deputy CEOs. Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj will have approximately 2,800 employees in India, with offices in 10 cities.

According to Vincent Lottefier, chief executive officer, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, "We will explore additional service lines, including a full service hotel division, corporate capital markets, debt and derivatives, asset management and specialist mall management. We will continue to hire and grow our talent pool. Our plan is to grow our professional staff strength by 35 per cent over and above the present strength of 2,800 employees by 2009."