Business Facilities - December 2008 - (Page 46)

FEATURE Occupying a New Space required scale, and they had gotten there,” O’Brien says. TENANT MARKET TARGETED Jones Lang LaSalle, whose roots go back more than two centuries, had developed a leading, international real estate solutions business across multiple service lines, with more than 170 offices in 60 countries, and a 2007 revenue of $2.7 billion. It had the tools and infrastructure that Staubach wanted. On the other hand, Staubach, whose last fiscal year revenues were $375 million, had a competitive edge among large and mid-size office users in the major U.S. markets. As Jones Lang LaSalle sought to deepen its tenant representation positions in those markets in recent years, it made sense to consider a merge, and Staubach, a longtime competitor in this area, emerged as a logical choice, says Bill Krouch, the firm’s CEO of Markets. “As Jones Lang LaSalle began to build a robust local-markets tenant representation capability, it became apparent that a business combination with the Staubach Company would accelerate and significantly improve our competitive position in this segment,” Krouch says, noting that his firm had long admired Staubach’s work and even had conversations over the years about a potential business relationship. Jones Lang LaSalle clients and prospects would even mention similarities between the two firms, specifically their cultures of teamwork, professionalism and ethical standards. O’Brien recalls finding very quickly that the two firms “fit together hand in glove.” “We made the decision after much deliberation and meeting with the 46 DECEMER 2008 Jones Lang people and understanding their culture and their people better. We thought, ‘Boy, this is a really great cultural match.’ The people are people that our team has said we would have hired every one of those people. They’re like us, they think like us, they’re very client-oriented, they’re very team-oriented,” O’Brien says. The deal came to fruition, quite rapidly, as 2008 unfolded. Business As Jones Lang LaSalle began to build a robust tenant representation capability, it became apparent that a business combination with Staubach would accelerate its competitive position in this segment. terms were agreed upon through a letter of intent, followed by three months of due diligence and development of integration plans. “We actually started integration discussions at the end of the first quarter of this year, beginning to workshop how we could bring our teams together in each of the various geographic markets,” Krouch says. “We’ve done a lot over the last several years to leverage the knowledge we learned from previous mergers, like with Spaulding & Slye [in 2006]. One of the things we found is you have to appoint integration teams that pull resources from both sides of the ledger and focus them on the areas you have to integrate. You also start that process well in advance of when you’re going to close, so that when you close you’re really in an execution mode.” The transaction has Jones Lang LaSalle paying $613 million for Staubach, including $123 million in cash and assumed net liabilities, and $100 million in stock at closing; and $390 million paid out in cash over five years, for all of the outstanding capital stock of Staubach Holdings Inc. An additional $114 million in earn-out payments will be paid over four and a half years, provided certain performance measures are met. THE DEAL IS CLOSED The firms closed on the deal in July, with the new firm operating under the Jones Lang LaSalle brand, and Staubach’s leadership taking key positions in the combined organization. Roger Staubach, now executive chairman, Americas, is actively involved with client relationships, new business development and strategy, and works closely with Colin Dyer, CEO, and Peter Roberts, CEO, Americas, as well as O’Brien and Gates. O’Brien refers to Roger Staubach as a beacon for the other executives and professionals. “Roger’s very committed,” O’Brien says. “He’s asking the questions about how we can get better, even though we’ve gotten so much better together. ‘How do we do this, how do we do that?’ It has him very excited to take this thing to the next level. He’s going to be supremely engaged. I’ve never once seen him not energized, but with this he’s very, very focused on making sure it works for everybody, including our clients and our partners at Jones Lang LaSalle.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - December 2008

Business Facilities - December 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots Corporate Moves: North Carolina Gold Award: New Engine for Growth in Virginia Silver Award: Tennessee Gets the Big Prize Bronze Award: Enrichment in Idaho Falls Honorable Mentions International Reach From America's Heartland Supply Chain Priorities Metro Spotlight: Greenville/ Spartanburg, SC The Magnolia State Has It All A Real Estate Mega-Merger State of the Year Ask the Expert Advertiser Index

Business Facilities - December 2008

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