JLL Closes on $1.8B Acquisition of HFF

JLL, one of the biggest commercial real estate services firms in the world, announced yesterday that it had officially closed on its purchase of HFF, a Dallas-based market advisory firm, in a cash-and-stock $1.8 billion deal.

The blockbuster transaction was first announced in March of this year and unanimously approved by both company’s board of directors. HFF’s shareholders approved the deal yesterday. JLL shareholders will now own about 87 percent of the shared company.

READ ALSO: JLL Spark Invests in Dealpath

In an announcement Monday afternoon, JLL said the closing of the acquisition is part of its Beyond “strategic vision,” a company initiative to grow its capital markets business. JLL also said the response to the deal from shareholders, clients and brokers was “overwhelmingly” positive. HFF recorded more than $650 million in revenue in 2018 and had more than 1,000 employees. The acquisition of the firm grows JLL’s team to more than 3,700 capital markets professionals across 47 countries.

HFF was launched in 1998 and provides capital markets and brokerage services to commercial real estate owners. Since its inception, the company has closed more than $800 billion in more than 27,000 transactions. As previously announced, HFF CEO Mark Gibson will join JLL as CEO of capital markets for Americas & co-chair of its global capital markets board.

The deal is the latest in a string of high-profile real estate mergers, including the $2.7 billion merger of Park Hotels & Resorts and Chesapeake Lodging Trust last month, Brookfield Asset Management’s acquisition of Oaktree in March, a deal valued at $4.7 billion, and Avison Young’s acquisition of GVA in February.