Jones Lang Wootton's merger with the Chicago-based LaSalle Partners will give clients of the Irish firm access to properties worldwide, the managing director of the company has said.
Pat McCaffrey said the merger was now finally completed and the new company would have a "global reach". This was because Jones Lang's existing clients could use LaSalle's worldwide network - internationally the company has large numbers of properties on its books.
"With the arrival of the euro, many property investors are looking to place a greater proportion of their funds overseas and not just in euro-land itself, but also in the other key global property markets," he said.
The merged entity will now operate in 34 countries on five continents. The company's name in Ireland will be Jones Lang LaSalle Ireland and all the partners of the former Jones Lang Wootton become directors of the global firm.
They are Alan Bradley, John Mulcahy, Pat McCaffrey, Anthony O'Loughlin, William Tuite, Stephen Murray, Des Lennon and Nigel Healy.
Mr McCaffrey said there would be no redundancies in the Dublin office which currently employs about 50 people.
He said while clients will be able to invest in property worldwide, another benefit of the move would be that facilities management - where a property company manages properties on behalf of clients - would increase. "Though it is in its infancy in Ireland, we see this as something that more and more clients will be looking for in the future," said Mr McCaffrey.
The new firm will provide services to owners, occupiers and investors through three business segments - financial and corporate services, investment management and leasing and management services.
Founded in 1968, LaSalle has been a public company since July, 1997, and its employees have a 35 per cent stake. It is the largest US provider of property management services, with approximately 400 million sq ft of assets under management.
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