We advised Savills on the acquisition of Knight Frank’s property management division
Savills is an international property advisory firm and a leader in the commercial property industry, consistently strengthening its position in Poland. Recently, we have advised them on the acquisition of part of Knight Frank’s business, which included the property management division. Following the transaction, Savills now manages more than 1,200,000 m² of office space.
Advice and expertise from the Transactional Practices team
From our client’s perspective, this was a challenging, complex and rather delicate transaction involving the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial properties and also the merging together of two separate teams.
As the company had to first successfully pass the tender procedure organised by Knight Frank, we assisted Savills from the very beginning, i.e. from the moment of structuring the offer.
We advised and supported Savills at all stages of the transaction, including:
- Antitrust check,
- Tax review,
- Negotiation of transaction documents,
- Structuring the assimilation of the acquired business into the internal organisation,
- Post-closing actions to ensure the smooth and seamless continuation of the former Knight Frank business within the Savills brand.
The complexity of the transaction was manifested in two aspects
The first was managing the business relationship between the parties, who are leaders of the Polish property management market and direct competitors. This raised some challenges, primarily at the preliminary due diligence stage.
The second aspect was the need to carve out the property management business from the structures of Knight Frank which continue to operate in Poland in its other spheres of activity. The parties decided to make an asset deal and spin-off an organised part of the business instead of an initial spin-off into a separate company and a subsequent purchase of shares.
Successful acquisition and consolidation of businesses
Through the acquisition and consolidation of the Knight Frank property management structure, Savills has significantly strengthened its position on the Polish market. As a result of the transaction, 35 employees have joined Savills and its Polish property management portfolio has surpassed 1,200,000 m².
“Providing legal services to Savills in such a significant transaction in the real estate sector is a great honour, but also a great responsibility. We are proud to have worked with the Savills team in this project and to have the possibility of supporting Savills in achieving its business goals”, says Paweł Cholewiński, Partner, Head of the Transactional Practices Group/Real Estate, M&A, who co-led the deal.
A stronger leader in the commercial property market
Thanks to the newly acquired portfolio consisting primarily of office buildings spread across Warsaw and major cities throughout Poland, Savills’ asset portfolio, also comprising retail, industrial and mixed-use projects, has now become even more diversified.
“With this acquisition, we have made a very important step towards the further growth of Savills in Poland that will enable us to double the scale of our property management business and significantly strengthen our position in the office sector” – added Tomasz Buras, CEO of Savills Poland.
Our project team was led by Paweł Cholewiński and Karol Połosak supported by Weronika Duda, Malwina Jagiełło, Michał Nowodworski and Dominik Gryś.
