TORONTO—Avison Young said Friday it had agreed to acquire WHR Property Consultants LLP and open a new office in Manchester, UK. It will be AY's fifth office in the UK and its 11th in Europe.

The acquisition is expected to close in 30 days. At that time, WHR will be rebranded as Avison Young and WHR'S Mark Williams, Gareth Buckley, Mike Rooney and Dan Crossley will become principals of AY. The 55-member WHR team will make the move with them.

“While we are proud of WHR's achievements and growth to date, we do recognize that the future growth of the business will require a stronger national and, importantly, international brand,” says Williams. When we were approached by Avison Young, we were impressed with how closely our companies' philosophies aligned, and felt confident that our well-established regional presence would be enhanced by joining a larger firm with strong UK and international client bases. We feel that this move is particularly important in the context of Manchester and the North West of England, as we are seeing real estate become an increasingly globalized commodity.”