Founding executive chairman of Edmund Tie & Company, Edmund N S Tie, will retire on January 1, 2019, the company has announced. He will continue as a senior adviser after his retirement. Tie established the company in 1995 together with 12 other founding partners. The company has grown into a full-service real estate consulting firm that offers agency and a full suite of professional services with over 400 staff.

He initiated the global integration of the business with DTZ Holdings in 2000, while jointly spearheading the Southeast Asian expansion of the company into Malaysia and Thailand. He subsequently led a management buyback of equity from DTZ International, and relaunched the company as Edmund Tie & Company (SEA) in July 2016.

Tie was also vice-chairman of the Community Chest from 1996 to 2013, and has made contributions to charity, the arts, and education. He is also a board member of the LaSalle Foundation, and was the chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s South Asia Council from 2004 to 2008.

In a statement, he thanked colleagues for “the fulfilling task of jointly contributing to the growth of ET&Co over the last 23 years”. He expressed confidence that the firm will “achieve greater heights of success” under the CEO, Ong Choon Fah.