Savills expands its presence in India with key appointments
Times News Service
MUSCAT: International real estate advisor Savills announces the planned expansion of its Indian business into a full-service platform.
The expanded Savills India business will be led by new CEO, Anurag Mathur, and will initially operate from offices in New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai with a focus on delivering the very best real estate advice and services for its clients.
Anurag is an industry veteran, with over 24 years experience in the Indian real estate sector, most recently as the Head of Project and Development Services and Emerging Businesses for JLL in India. Before that he spent 14 years at Cushman & Wakefield India where he was one of the founding members, holding various senior positions, the last being the Managing Director and Country Head.
Joining with Anurag Mathur is Pankaj Sharma who is appointed as chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO) Savills India. Pankaj brings more than 20 years of experience in finance and operations in the Indian real estate industry. He served previously with Cushman & Wakefield for 18 years in various roles in India and APAC, ultimately as CFO for India.
The expansion of Savills into India is the next strategic move for the business, after the successful acquisition of Cluttons Middle East.
Steven Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Savills Middle East (formerly CEO Cluttons Middle East) said: “India is a critical addition in the strategic expansion of Savills across the world. Following the acquisition of the Cluttons Middle East business earlier this year, the addition of India, , is a logical next step.”
“The Middle East and India are intrinsically linked, with over 2.5 million Indian nationals residing in the UAE alone. There is a great opportunity for the combined Savills business to extend our services to these expatriate populations, providing expert advice in the GCC and their home nation,” he added.
The most recent Dubai Land Department statistics for the first nine months of 2018 show that Indians actually made more transactions in Dubai real estate than Emiratis, with 4,676 investments compared to 4,112 for UAE citizens. Indians are the largest foreign investors into Dubai real estate with Dh8.6 billion of investment. In addition, over the past year, the GCC has committed more than $52billion in commercial investments into India.
Savills will continue to invest in Savills India to broaden the business over the coming years.
Talking about the expansion, Christian Mancini, CEO, Savills Asia Pacific (ex-Greater China), said:“India is a strategic opportunity for Savills continued expansion in Asia. The country is a key growth engine of the global economy and has accelerated its significance with continued economic development and a highly talented workforce resulting in it being a preferred destination of global capital. Our aim is to offer a full suite of integrated services to Occupier, Investor and Developer clients in the key locations in India.”
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