Savills bets $1.1bn on Eastdil to claim a seat at the top table of global property dealmaking

The acquisition of the US real estate investment bank is a calculated gamble on a transactions recovery that could redefine the British firm's global standing For a company that has spent decades building a respected but regionally uneven business, Savills PLC's (LSE:SVS) acquisition of Eastdil Secured represents something altogether more ambitious: a deliberate lurch toward the centre of global real estate finance. The $1.1 billion deal, the largest in Savills' history, brings in one of the most prestigious names in US real estate investment banking, a firm that has advised on some of the most significant property transactions in the world and whose client relationships are the envy of the industry.