Savills buys Hamilton Osborne King for €50m

British property adviser Savills Plc said today it had bought Irish commercial and retail property agent and auctioneer Hamilton…

British property adviser Savills Plc said today it had bought Irish commercial and retail property agent and auctioneer Hamilton Osborne King for €50 million.

Savills, which has a network of offices and associates throughout Europe, the Americas and Africa, said it was acquiring the Dublin-based firm using its own cash reserves.

Hamilton Osborne King is the largest firm of commercial property advisers in Ireland and a leader in the Irish retail market, where it has a dominant position in the shopping centre sector, Savills said in a statement.

The company, with offices throughout Ireland and around 250 staff, notched up sales of almost €36 million in the year to end-September and a pretax profit of €7.8 million.