International property consultancy JLL is selling its India residential brokerage arm to former India head Anuj Puri.

Puri, who had left the firm on Feb 28, has worked closely with the JLL India and Asia Pacific leadership teams to complete the acquisition of Jones Lang LaSalle Residential Private Ltd (JLLR).

He will now lead an independent company with 200 residential brokers across eight Indian cities.

“With his impeccable track record in Indian real estate and his passion for the residential sector, Anuj is the best person to continue to build this business and we wish him every success in his future endeavours,” says Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India.

He added that, “For JLL, it is a strategic move that will allow us to focus on new growth areas for our India business and continue to offer best-in-class real estate advice and services to our clients.”

JLL is India’s largest real estate consulting firm with offices in 11 Indian cities and over 9,000 employees. While the residential brokerage arm will be under new ownership, the US-based company emphasised that it will continue to provide consulting, advisory, valuation, research, property management, project & development services and capital markets services for residential developers.

Said Puri: “After 10 incredible years with JLL, it’s now time to build something new and I’m very much looking forward to focusing on the exciting opportunities in India’s residential sector.”

He said initially, the business will retain the existing brand name, JLLR, operating through its unique business model of online property marketing coupled with complete offline brokerage support. Going forward, it will be renamed to reflect the new ownership structure.

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