Deloitte deal strengthens presence in commercial property

Drivers Jonas – the eighth- biggest commercial property adviser with a history dating back 285 years – will merge with Deloitte's existing 50-strong practice to create a business with around 700 employees and more than 110m in annual revenues.

The all-share deal will see Drivers Jonas's 25 equity partners become partners in Deloitte.

Deloitte's push into the multi-billion pound property advisory market aims to see it double the division's revenues within three years and become a bigger competitor to the likes of Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis. Geoff Taylor, senior partner in the Leeds office of Deloitte, said: "Together Deloitte and Drivers Jonas will offer an unrivalled breadth and depth of services and expertise. Drivers Jonas is notable for the scale and strength of its transaction and advisory services and the quality and independence of its real estate research, making it the obvious choice to significantly extend Deloitte's real estate offer to our clients."

The combined division – to be known as Drivers Jonas Deloitte – will also complement Deloitte's existing team specialising in advising real estate firms, which makes around 200m a year in fees.

The deal is set to complete in March and will see Drivers Jonas managing partner Nick Shepherd head the combined division in the same role. He will also join the Deloitte executive.

John Weir, Drivers Jonas' lead partner for the Leeds practice, which opened in 2007 and has 21 staff, said: "We are very excited by the opportunities that Drivers Jonas Deloitte presents.

"We have sustained our Leeds business in spite of the recession and, as Drivers Jonas Deloitte, can now look forward to exponential growth, increasing the scale of our real estate service offering and our overall traction within the Yorkshire property market. As Drivers Jonas Deloitte we will now have unrivalled access to a much broader client base in Yorkshire."

As well as lucrative property consultancy work involved in mergers and acquisitions, Deloitte is aiming to offer advice across a wide range of areas, including the public sector.

Impending Government spending cuts are expected to see a rise in demand for public sector property consultancy, according to the group.

The's announcement follows Deloitte's takeover of information provider ReportSource just weeks ago.

Deloitte has trebled in size in the last 10 years. Drivers Jonas has also enjoyed a similar same level of growth.