Deloitte UK has expanded its real
estate consulting arm with the addition of established property
advisory firm Drivers Jonas.

The group, which will trade as Drivers Jonas
Deloitte, will have combined annual revenue of more than £110
million ($177 million) and will form part of Deloitte’s £200
million real estate industry team.

The firm said it had identified a major growth
opportunity to extend its capabilities in the real estate advisory
market, which was valued at approximately £2 billion in 2009. The
real estate group is expected to double in size within the next
three years.

The 650 Drivers Jonas partners and staff based
in London, Slough, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Paris and Frankfurt will join Deloitte to provide real
estate advisory and transaction expertise to clients.

It is understood no job losses are expected as
a result of the integration, which is set to begin in June.

Drivers Jonas managing partner Nick Shepherd
will become managing partner of Drivers Jonas Deloitte and will
join the Deloitte executive team. Shepherd believes the move to
Deloitte will help the business grow.

“The merger of our partnership with Deloitte
provides our real estate teams with a fantastic platform from which
to build our advisory business and further develop our service
offering in the capital markets,” he said.

Deloitte senior partner and chief executive
John Connolly said the firm has worked closely with Drivers Jonas
for several years.

“We also see a clear opportunity to combine
the skills of our specialists in tax, corporate finance, business
consulting and our real estate strategy team with the Drivers Jonas
team, which has an outstanding reputation for providing the highest
quality independent advice in this market,” Connolly said.

“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 transaction is expected to be completed in
March 2010. Earlier this month, Deloitte revealed it would acquire
ReportSource, a business performance and information management
consultancy.