We advised Savills, the international property advisory firm and leader in the commercial property industry, on the acquisition of a part of Knight Frank’s business, including its property management division. Following the transaction, Savills now manages more than 1,200,000 m² of office space.

From our client’s perspective, this was a challenging, complex and rather delicate transaction, which involved managing the business relationship between the parties, both leaders of the Polish property management market and direct competitors. This raised some challenges, primarily at the preliminary due diligence stage and involved the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial properties and the merging together of two separate teams.

It involved the carving out of the property management business from the structures of Knight Frank which continue to operate in Poland in its other spheres of activity. The parties proceeded via 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.

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,
  • tax,
  • negotiation of transaction documents,
  • structuring the assimilation of the acquired business into the internal organization,
  • post-closing actions to ensure the smooth and seamless incorporation of the former Knight Frank business into the Savills brand.

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 now 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, and 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.

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 in the further growth of Savills in Poland, enabling us to double the scale of our property management business and significantly strengthening 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.

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