Real estate advisory firm Savills has agreed to acquire global real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured for an enterprise value of $1.11bn (€963.5m) from Guggenheim, Temasek and Wells Fargo.
As part of the deal, the Eastdil Secured leadership team and Eastdil Secured’s senior employees will all become shareholders in Savills by exchanging their existing interests in Eastdil Secured.
Established in New York in 1967, Eastdil Realty was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1999. The firm later merged in 2006 with real estate investment bank Secured Capital founded in 1990 to form Eastdil Secured. In 2019, Eastdil Secured’s management team led a recapitalisation of the firm in partnership with Guggenheim, Temasek and Wells Fargo.
Eastdil Secured provides global advisory services across mergers and acquisitions, continuation vehicles and joint ventures. The firm also specialises in asset sales, debt placement, structured credit and loan sales for international investors.
Savills said Eastdil Secured’s real estate investment banking business will complement its broader real estate services offering to create a combined group which will be the “number two advisory firm globally for prime commercial real estate transactions above $100m”.
Once the deal completes, Eastdil Secured will continue to operate its existing business model as the real estate investment bank arm within Savills Group.
As part of the deal, the Eastdil Secured leadership team and Eastdil Secured’s senior employees will all become shareholders in Savills by exchanging their existing interests in Eastdil Secured.
As part of the deal, Roy H March, current CEO of Eastdil Secured, has been appointed executive chairman of Eastdil Secured responsible for client advisory, execution and long term strategy.
D Michael Van Konynenburg, currently Eastdil Secured’s president, will take on the role of CEO of Eastdil Secured, overseeing day-to-day operations, with James McCaffrey to take on the role of president of Eastdil Secured, spearheading international growth from London.
Van Konynenburg and McCaffrey will both join the Savills Group executive board.
Simon Shaw, group CEO of Savills, said that Eastdil Secured is a long-standing partner with a similar culture and a geographic reach that perfectly complements Savills’ existing operations.
Shaw added: “This acquisition is a significant step forward for both of us, bringing to the global investment community a much-needed choice of leading advisory partner to deliver a comprehensive suite of investment banking, strategic, financial, development, leasing and other “boots on the ground” property solutions.
“By acquiring a leading real estate investment bank provider, the improved breadth of our services and enhanced global footprint will create significant growth opportunities for the combined Group’s staff and significant value to our clients and shareholders alike.”
March said: “This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for Eastdil Secured, which will accelerate our growth, create opportunities for our team, and significantly enhance our ability to provide best-in-class real estate investment banking services for our valued clients globally.
“As part of Savills, Eastdil Secured will continue to serve as a trusted advisor and provide clients with unmatched capital markets and commercial real estate expertise, now with more resources as part of a larger organisation with complementary geographic reach and advisory capabilities.”
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