Granite is a New York-based real estate investment banking firm owned primarily by its partners. Founded in 1996 by John D. Lyons and Gerard V. Mason, the company offers investment sales, debt and equity placement and advisory services focusing on commercial property throughout the US. Granite undertakes transactions in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean basin and has worked for a number of high-profile clients including Babcock & Brown, Blackstone Group, General Electric Capital Corp., Goldman Sachs Archon/Whitehall, Health Care Property Investors, Inc., ING/Clarion, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

Prominent transactions undertaken by Granite include the sale of the leasehold interest in the office and retail premises located within Washington D.C.'s Union Station for $160 million; representation of the Lightstone Group in its $889m acquisition of Prime Group Realty Trust, a NYSE-listed REIT; and the sale of the Enron World Headquarters building in Houston, Texas on behalf of Enron Creditors for $50 million.

Granite currently employs a team of 18 professionals. They have a range of diverse real estate backgrounds and have executed over $21 billion of real estate transactions spanning the full range of property types, including office, medical office, retail, multifamily, industrial and hotels. Following the completion of this deal Granite will be re-branded Savills Granite with immediate effect.

For year ended 31 December 2006, Granite’s turnover was $15.4m; EBITDA was $8.9m. Gross assets at that date were US$9.4m. As a result of Savills’ stated desire to build its presence in the US, further considerable investment in Granite is likely to be undertaken and therefore the acquisition of Granite is expected to be broadly earnings neutral for Savills’ earnings in 2008.

This acquisition is in line with Savills’ strategy to invest directly in operations in the US following the dissolution of the company’s strategic alliance with the Trammell Crow Company.

John Lyons of Granite will undertake the role of Savills Chief Executive of North America, and Simon Hope of Savills will assume responsibility for this market at board level.

Aubrey Adams, Chief Executive of Savills, said:

"We are delighted to welcome the management and staff of Granite to Savills Group as our new US acquisition. This is an important development for Savills and is in line with our strategy of having a presence in the key global financial centres and follows on from our major expansion in recent years in Europe and Asia.

"We have taken our time in finding the right US partner. I am convinced that in Granite we have found an excellent partner that gives us a first-class entrance point into the US market. By entering the US market Savills now has strengthened its presence globally."

Simon Hope, Executive Director of Savills, adds:

"We see Granite as the ideal fit for our first US office due to an outstanding cultural synergy, New York City location, access to capital markets and strong leadership which will carry the business forward. We see this acquisition as placing Savills on the map in the US and we have exciting expansion plans for the business under the leadership of John and his team.

"The US market is highly competitive and we are looking forward to the opportunities it provides and the challenges it will raise. We have an excellent team in Europe and Asia, who will be working closely with Granite to integrate them into our global network so that we can provide a wider geographical service to our clients."

John D. Lyons of Granite commented:

"By joining forces with Savills, Granite will expand further our client base while enhancing our capacity to serve existing clients both in the United States and abroad. Our association with Savills will provide Granite clients with greater access to global capital markets. As a unified entity, Savills Granite will stand as a formidable US base of operations for one of the world’s leading real estate services firms."