Richards Butler to put property deals on-line

INTERNET SERVICE: commercial clients are targeted

City firm Richards Butler is hoping to set an industry standard with an on-line deal room designed for its commercial property clients.

Partner Robin Cole said the service, RB-AssetsOnline, is the first law firm product tailored to commercial property clients.

'This kind of technology is a means for developing an industry standard for investment management,' he said.

Documents and summaries of clients' asset portfolios are posted on the secure Internet site, where they can be managed.

When a client decides to sell any part of his portfolio, he can give the buyer access to the site for due diligence to speed up the process.

The Internet-based property management tool was developed in-house by Richards Butler's IT and property departments.

The firm aims to get billions of pounds of assets of all its commercial property clients on-line in the next year.

Unlike Richards Butler's existing IT systems, the property department decided to retain an external host, Internet service provider Verio.

A 'substantial financial investment' in the product was sanctioned at Richards Butler's annual partners' meeting in April, which emphasised the development of IT systems as a strategic objective, said Mr Cole.

The shipping department is also looking at developing a similar product for trade finance.

Clients already on-line, including Bavaria Property Fund, Walthom Developments Limited and Aggmore Properties.

Anne Mizzi