A leading Irish commercial property consultancy has been sold to merchant bank group BNP Paribas for €10 million. Harrington Bannon announced yesterday that Atisreal, Europe's biggest real estate services group, has bought the partnership for close to €10 million.
The main beneficiaries of the deal will be managing partner Patrick Curran and partners John McCann, Thomas McCarthy, Caitriona Ryan and Conor Whelan. Staff are also expected to share in the deal.
Harrington Bannon will become Atisreal Ireland, with Patrick Curran becoming managing director.
The current management team will remain in place and it is likely to begin recruiting new professional staff here, the partnership said yesterday.
News of the deal comes just days after quoted UK group Savills bought Hamilton Osborne King for €50 million.
Atisreal is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Real Estate, with offices throughout Europe and the US.
Last year BNP Paribas had net banking income of €434 million, €250 million of which came from Atisreal. Pre-tax profit was €111 million. It was involved in 4,528 real estate transactions and 22,100 valuations during the year.
Harrington Bannon has been in business since 1979 and employs 20 people. It specialises in commercial property, and acts as an adviser, valuer and manager to its clients. Last year it had a turnover of €5 million.
Its customers come mainly from the corporate sector and include AIB, Bank of Ireland, Castlethorn, Dunloe Ewart, Green Property, Shelbourne Development and Tiltware.
Atisreal's vice chairman, Alain Béchade, said that it bought the company to get a share of the high volume of investment flowing out of the Republic and into overseas property markets.
"The Irish market is strategic, particularly with regard to international investment," he said. "In terms of corporate real estate, this market is also an important link between North American companies and Europe. It is an extremely buoyant domestic market and Irish investors are active in the UK and continental European markets."
Mr Curran said that the integration of Atisreal's international experience and access with Harrington Bannon's local expertise and knowledge would allow it to offer a high quality service to its clients in Europe and the US.
