Old News - Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang drops Meghraj name from Indian unit

Move ‘in accordance with shareholders’ agreement’

The Indian subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSalle, one of the world’s largest financial and real estate consulting firms, has undergone a name change to reflect the company’s growing presence in India. The Indian operation will be known as Jones Lang LaSalle India (JLLI), since the company has quietly dropped the Meghraj tag it gained after the merger of Trammel Crow Meghraj with itself in mid-2007.

Till recently, it was called Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj. According to company officials, the change is just part of the scheduled rebranding transition and has no other significance.

“It is only a change in branding otherwise everything else remains the same. This has been done in accordance with the shareholders’ agreement signed in 2007, that the Meghraj name would only continue for three years,” said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, JLLI.

“From a branding prospective, it is good. We had planned it accordingly. Meghraj had a lot of government clients and the agreements were for more than two years. It could have been difficult for them to shift, all of a sudden, to the merged entity. Now the transition will be smoother,”' Puri added.

Meghraj has been a powerful brand name in the real estate consultancy space in India since the mid 1990s, and had built a large number of clients from private and government sectors. At different times, it was called Chesterton Meghraj and Trammell Crow Meghraj.

The UK-based Meghraj Properties, started by Gujarati-origin MP Shah, was considered a pioneer in this field. International property consultants have always wanted to be associated with the firm for expanding their base in India.

“It was a merger of equals and that is why today we are a formidable force in India. We are far ahead than our competitors and are steadily growing,” Puri claimed.

He said that the merger had paid off even during the recession, when the company grew by 15 per cent. It is currently growing at 25 per cent a year, he said.

“Globally, Jones Lang LaSalle is according high importance to India, because the growth potential here is higher than any other market. India will witness a lot of action in the next 10 years,” Puri added.

Source : Lalatendu Mishra ,http://archive.tehelka.com