Property consultancy Savills has announced that it has acquired the Middle East arm of London-based competitor Cluttons in a deal that will see the firm end its association with Dubai-based brokerage Core Real Estate, plus another covering Qatar and Bahrain.

The UK-based company said in a press release issued on Monday that the acquisition of Cluttons's Middle East arm, which employs 190 staff in seven locations and has had a presence in the Gulf for 40 years, would see it establish its first wholly-owned business in the region. The deal completed last week and the business will be rebranded to Savills later this year.

In the statement, Savills deputy group chief executive, Mark Ridley, said: “The Middle East region is key to the global economy and its continued economic development, increased government investment and a young population will continue to accelerate its significance.

“The acquisition of Cluttons Middle East geographically links our European and Asian business by enhancing our EMEA platform," he added.

The company said that all of Cluttons Middle East's management, including chief executive Steven Morgan and the company's various office heads, would continue to lead its various teams.

A company spokesperson told Zawya that the firm had explored "a number of options" in terms of building its presence in the region, including starting up an office to undertake organic growth, but added that the acquisition was considered the best method "given Cluttons’ similar culture, very strong reputation, excellent management team and high level of expertise".

Savills currently has two existing associations in the Middle East – one covering the UAE with Core Real Estate, and another covering its presence in Qatar and Bahrain – both of which began in 2014. These will both be ended when the agreements expire later this year, although the company's statement said that it "expects to continue cooperating with its former partners in the future".

Savills began its association with Core, a Dubai-based brokerage firm co-founded by Edward Macura and David Abood, four years ago. Its agreement in Qatar began at the same time.

At the time of writing, nobody from Core Real Estate was available for comment.  Until recently, the company was run by chief executive David Godchaux, but it is understood that he left the business last month.

In March, Savills reported full-year results for 2017 which showed a 20 percent increase in net profit to £80.1 million ($106.6 million) on the back of an 11 percent increase in revenue to £1.6 billion.

It earned 37 percent of its revenue from its home market in the UK, 35 percent from its Asia Pacific business, 14 percent from North America and 11 percent from its Continental Europe division.

(Reporting by Michael Fahy; Editing by Anoop Menon)

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