Two of South Australia’s major property advisory consultancies, Fyfe and Connor Holmes, have merged.
The companies, with a combined turnover of $60 million, formally signed merger documents after lengthy negotiations.
Under the terms of the agreement, Connor Holmes will incorporate Fyfe’s existing land services operations in Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin. Fyfe’s oil and gas engineering consulting operations will be unaffected.
Connor Holmes Managing Director, Mr Gary Rusling and Director, Mr Stephen Holmes, will join the Fyfe Board.
Fyfe’s Managing Director, Mr Mark Dayman, said the merger would provide significant benefit to the clients of both companies and great opportunities in the future.
“Fyfe had been looking to revitalise its land division to prepare for an expected upswing in the industry,” he said.
“In the past, Fyfe has concentrated on the planning, survey, civil and environmental engineering aspects of land development.
“Connor Holmes operates in a different sector of the market, providing strategic advice and consultation. By combining our skills, we can provide a total integrated service to development stakeholders.”
The Managing Director of Connor Holmes, Mr Gary Rusling, said Connor Holmes had established strong market share in South Australia and had been looking to expand interstate.
“Fyfe already has a very strong presence in the Queensland market, which we had identified as a prime area of potential future growth, and also operates in Darwin,” he said.
“This merger gives us the advantage of being able to use Fyfe’s existing networks and leverage the existing strengths of both brands to create a truly national presence and expand our services across Australia.”
Mr Rusling said the merger had the strongest possible support from the Connor Holmes founders, Stephen Connor and Stephen Holmes and had been enthusiastically embraced by the rest of the team.
The merged company will have a combined workforce of more than 420 people located in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Mr Dayman said he anticipated Fyfe would grow by more than 20% in the next 12 months.
“We believe land and property services will provide significant growth for the company in coming years,” he said.
“This merger gives us the muscle to become a truly national property development consultancy offering an integrated solution to the industry.
“We now have the financial strength, personnel and systems in place to advise on major projects from beginning to end across Australia, or to meet specific requirements of developers.
“When Fyfe started, its business was mainly in land services and we have a high level of expertise in this area.
“The property development market has been slow for some time now, but there are signs that the position could change at any time.
“Interest rates are at low levels and there is growing unmet demand for housing and commercial developments. We believe that when the market turns, it will do so quickly and we are now exceptionally well positioned to respond accordingly.”
The merger will take effect from September 1.
