Jones Lang LaSalle buys rival Staubach for almost $1bn

The real estate services firm agrees to acquire its smaller rival in a bid to bolster its presence in key US markets and its tenant representation business. The merger will leave Jones Lang LaSalle with almost 50,000 employees and 184 offices worldwide.

Real estate investment management firm Jones Lang LaSalle has bought out smaller rival The Staubach Company for at least $613 million (€395 million).

The deal is intended to boost Jones Lang LaSalle’s reach in key US cities such as New York, Southern California, Washington DC, Chicago, northern California, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and New Jersey and expand its tenant representation business.

According to a statement, Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle will pay Staubach $613 million, with $123 million in cash and $100 million in stock at the closing. The balance would be paid out in cash over five years. The agreement also calls for potential performance-related payments of up to $114 million over the next four and a half years. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008.

”This marriage probably stakes out a claim that we could be viewed as number one in the public-sector services,” Peter Roberts, Jones Lang LaSalle chief executive of the Americas, told Reuters.

Dallas-based Staubach primarily represents office, retail and industrial tenants, finding locations and assisting them in lease negotiations. It was founded in 1977 by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. The deal does not include Staubach Retail Services or Cypress, Staubach’s investment development business, which will continue to operate under license agreements. Staubach will though fall under the Jones Lang LaSalle brand.

Roger Staubach will join the Jones Lang LaSalle board of directors and serve as executive chairman, Americas. “This merger is all about working to be the best. We want to bring the value of what we've built at The Staubach Company to the next level and have chosen to do this with Jones Lang LaSalle,” he said.

The acquisition means Jones Lang LaSalle will have more than 45,000 employees worldwide, and have 184 offices globally, including 68 in the Americas.