The Canadian real estate service provider FirstService has bought out Briant Champion Long (BCL), one of the United Kingdom’s leading independent retail property specialists.
The acquisition was made through one of the Toronto-based company’s subsidiaries, Colliers International which itself was taken over by FirstService in 2012. The price or terms of the transaction have not been made public, but BCL will now be integrated into the operations of Colliers UK with Mark Phillipson as its managing partner.
The transaction is not only seen as strengthening Colliers’ presence in London, one of the world’s leading retail property markets, but expands its parent company’s reach into Europe and beyond.
Through its 30 employees, Briant Champion Long provides agency and professional advice to a wide range of retail clients, landlords and investors. It is currently engaged in letting more than four million sq ft of UK retail space. During the past year it completed 800 transactions worth around £425m. More importantly for its new owner, last year BCL generated $9m [£5.4m] in revenue.
“BCL complements our existing retail business and is consistent with our aggressive growth strategy for the UK,” said Tony Horrell, chief executive officer of Colliers UK and Ireland. “Combining our capabilities in this area establishes us as one of the top British players in the retail agency, investment and advisory sectors.”
FirstService — which has a global turnover of $2.3bn [£1.3bn] and employs 23,000 worldwide — manages more than 2.5bn square feet of residential and commercial properties through its three subsidiaries – Colliers International, which specialises in commercial properties, FirstService Residential, the largest manager of residential communities in North America, and Property Services, which delivers property services through company-owned operations, franchise systems and contractor networks.
For BCL founder Mark Phillipson the takeover was a natural progression for his 27-year-old company. “This is a fantastic opportunity for our professionals to expand our business nationally and internationally,” he admitted. “Colliers was the only company we considered given its enterprising culture, ambitious growth plans in the UK and market-leading position globally. All of our key people see this as an exciting opportunity to take our business to the next level. We look forward to continuing to accelerate our success as part of Colliers International.”
Colliers International is already the third-largest commercial real estate services company in the world, with over 13,500 staff operating out of more than 482 offices across 62 countries. Chris McLernon is its chief executive officer. “The addition of BCL and its strong group of professionals strengthens our capabilities in the UK and is another step forward in our strategy to grow and consolidate the commercial real estate industry within Europe,” he said. “This transaction is another example of our disciplined approach, partnering with high quality professionals that are aligned with our culture, while deploying our capital prudently to grow our business internally and through acquisition”.
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