Colliers Acquires Leading Property Specialist in London

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

L-R: Tony Horrell, Paul Smith, Rob Hayes, John Olney and David Hanrahan, H2SO

FirstService Corp. subsidiary Colliers International has acquired H2SO Property Consultants, one of London’s leading independent commercial property specialists, FirstService announced Monday. Financials were not disclosed.

The deal will help build Colliers’ rapidly growing U.K. operations, specifically in investment and office agency, and follows the recent acquisition of a leading retail brokerage.

Founded in 2009, H2SO took its name from its four principals: David Hanrahan, Rob Hayes, Paul Smith and John Olney, though that name will now change to Colliers International.

Since its establishment, H2SO has advised on more than £5 billion of capital transactions and leasing deals representing more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial and office space. In 2013, the firm generated approximately $12 million in revenue.

The four principals will lead the combined Colliers Central London team of more than 40 professionals in two offices: 50 George St. in the West End and a new office at 35 King St. in the City.

“London is one of the fastest-growing and -evolving global cities and today, more than ever, we have to be more flexible when responding to client needs,” Tony Horrell, Colliers’ CEO UK and Ireland, told Commercial Property Executive.

“The traditional silos of the City and West End are no longer as relevant; the West End has expanded its reach, and our approach is to now focus on Central London villages across the city,” he said.

The H2SO deal follows Colliers’ February acquisition of Briant Champion Long, a leading U.K. independent retail property brokerage and investment consultancy founded in 1987. Based in London, BCL employed more than 30 CRE professionals and in 2013 generated about $9 million in revenue.

On this side of The Pond, last week FirstService Corp. announced that FirstService Residential Realty, a national property management company based in Austin, has been purchased by its executive managers, who are changing the company’s name to The Rockbridge Group. Terms of that deal were not disclosed.

Greg Tolander, CEO of FSRR, and John Miller, CFO of FSRR, led the managed buyout, with Plains Capital Bank as the group’s financial partner. Rockbridge will retain regional offices in California, Florida and Nevada.