CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2015) -  As part of its commitment to be a leading advisor in the hospitality industry, JLL (NYSE: JLL) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire LodgeTax, a national leader in hotel real estate tax services and consulting co-founded by Louis Breeding and David Calverley. The acquisition will allow JLL to strategically expand its hospitality platform to provide real estate tax consulting services to its clients across the country. The acquisition is scheduled to close within the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.

"Real estate taxes are a very large single expense item for hotels. This acquisition will allow JLL to offer our clients a comprehensive and customized approach to managing their real estate property tax needs; bolstering our asset management, buy-side due diligence capabilities; and working with both buyers and sellers of hotels since a transaction often results in potential changes in real estate taxes," said Arthur Adler, Americas CEO of JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group. "LodgeTax's innovative approach to portfolio management and proven methods to mitigate property tax liability can have an immediate positive impact on our clients' hotel portfolios nationwide."

Breeding and Calverley, who each have more than 25 years of experience in the property tax industry, will join JLL as Executive Vice Presidents. Since founding LodgeTax as GSI/LodgeTax in 2000, Breeding has overseen the company's hospitality appeal assignments in the United States while Calverley has focused on the real estate tax administration.

"Joining JLL allows us to provide a broader scope of services to our clients within a platform that is complementary to ours in terms of offerings and culture. Its entrepreneurial approach enables us to continue to customize our services to our clients' needs," said Breeding. "JLL already provides services to many of our clients and now their hospitality needs will be met by one team under one roof."

JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group serves as a global leader in real estate services for luxury, upscale, select service and budget hotels; timeshare and fractional ownership properties; convention centers; mixed-use developments and other hospitality properties. The firm's more than 320 dedicated hotel and hospitality experts partner with investors and owner/operators around the globe to support and shape investment strategies that deliver maximum value throughout the entire lifecycle of an asset. In the last five years, the team completed more transactions than any other hotels and hospitality real estate advisor in the world totaling more than USD 48 billion, while also completing approximately 4,500 advisory, valuation and asset management assignments. The group's hotels and hospitality specialists provide independent and expert advice to clients, backed by industry-leading research.

For more news, videos and research from JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group, please visit: www.jll.com/hospitality, download the Hotels & Hospitality Group app for iOS and Android, or view our e-magazine The Hotel Investor, available for iPad.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $4.7 billion and gross revenue of $5.4 billion, JLL has more than 230 corporate offices, operates in 80 countries and has a global workforce of approximately 58,000. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 3.4 billion square feet, or 316 million square meters, and completed $118 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2014. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $55.3 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2850387