JLL and King Sturge
Much has been made of the JLL and King Sturge deal in the last ten days but let’s face it a merger it is not. JLL is BUYING King Sturge.
In many respects there are similarities with this country’s coalition government – the real power lies with the Tories or in this case JLL. And while every effort is being made to show this as a “merger of equals” ultimately the power base lies within JLL.
There may be little client/service provision duplication and the talk of cultural fit may be a valid point but as one senior property journalist remarked recently : “it’s amazing how good a cultural fit can be when the cheque is big enough!”
There is a five year incentive to make the deal work to it’s maximum but some staff will not share those apirations and vote with their feet.
Work on integrating the two companies began in earnest this week and it is hoped that the pitfalls of the last significant merger – that of DTZ and Donaldsons where so much was earned by so few – are avoided.
