flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

DTZ to acquire Cushman & Wakefield for $2 billion

Building Owners

DTZ to acquire Cushman & Wakefield for $2 billion

The combination creates an imposing competitive threat to commercial real estate service giants CBRE Group and JLL.


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | May 12, 2015
DTZ to acquire Cushman & Wakefield for $2 billion

Cushman & Wakefield was founded in New York, N.Y., on October 31, 1917, by brothers-in-law J. Clydesdale Cushman and Bernard Wakefield. Photo courtesy Cushman & Wakefield 

DTZ, a leading global commercial real estate firm, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Cushman & Wakefield from Exor for $2.04 billion. The merger would create a commercial real estate services company with over $5.5 billion in annual revenue, 43,000 employees, and more than 4 billion sf in its global real estate management portfolio.

The combined company intends to keep the Cushman & Wakefield name. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The DTZ-Cushman marriage would create a company whose revenue from brokerage fees roughly equals that of JLL, which has been the second-largest commercial real estate services entity behind CRBE.

Cushman & Wakefield, which was founded in 1917, has 259 offices in 60 countries. In April, it acquired J.F. McKinney + Associates, a leading leasing firm representing over 16 million sf of Chicago-area office space.

Chicago-based DTZ operates from more than 260 offices in 50 countries that completed $63 billion in transaction volume last year. DTZ reportedly has been interested in merging with Cushman for several years.

“It’s not just about size. It’s also about local expertise and deep customer service,” said Brett White, the former CRBE Chief Executive, who became DTZ’s Executive Chairman in March, and will be Chairman and CEO of the combined company.

The DTZ-Cushman marriage would create a company whose revenue from brokerage fees roughly equals that of JLL, which has been the second-largest commercial real estate services entity behind CRBE. According to The Wall Street Journal, CBRE’s 2014 revenue was $9 billion, JLL’s $5.4 billion. 

Last November, a private equity consortium backed by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital, and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, paid the Australia-based engineering firm UGL $1.1 billion to buy DTZ. At the time, DTZ was in the process of acquiring the New York-based commercial real estate brokerage Cassidy Turley. That deal was finalized in January, and the two firms were merged, creating a company with $2.9 billion in annual revenue, more than 28,000 employees, managing 1.9 billion sf of property and 1.3 billion sf of facilities for institutional, government, corporate, and private clients.   

Exor SpA—which gets $1.28 billion in net proceeds from its part of the Cushman sale—is owned by the Agnelli family, reputedly the largest shareholder in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Exor has stated it plans to proceed with its merger with Axis capital Holdings.

Details about combining DTZ and Cushman—such as how market or portfolio overlaps will be reconciled—have yet to be disclosed. But the management team has already begun to take shape.

Once this deal is completed, Tod Lickerman, DTZ’s chief executive (and JLL’s former CEO), will become president of the new company. Cushman’s North America chief executive, John Santora, will hold titles of COO and chief integration officer. Carlo Barel di Sant’Albano, Cushman’s international chief executive, will take a senior global leadership role at the combined company. Edward Forst, Cushman’s CEO, is expected to leave the company.

Millbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy advised Cushman in this deal.

Related Stories

Green | Jan 10, 2022

The future of regenerative building is performance-based

Why measuring performance results is so critical, but also easier said than done.

Urban Planning | Dec 15, 2021

EV is the bridge to transit’s AV revolution—and now is the time to start building it

Thinking holistically about a technology-enabled customer experience will make transit a mode of choice for more people.

Healthcare Facilities | Dec 15, 2021

COVID-19 has altered the speed and design of healthcare projects, perhaps irrevocably

Healthcare clients want their projects up and running quicker, a task made more complicated by the shortage of skilled labor in many markets.

Giants 400 | Dec 3, 2021

2021 Hotel Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. hospitality sector

Gensler, Jacobs, Suffolk Construction, and WATG top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest hotel sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.

2021 Building Team Awards | Nov 17, 2021

Caltech's new neuroscience building unites scientists, engineers to master the human brain

The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena wins a Gold Award in BD+C's 2021 Building Team Awards.

Architects | Nov 9, 2021

Download BD+C’s 2021 Design Innovation Report

AEC and development firms share where new ideas come from, and what makes them click.

Architects | Nov 9, 2021

Download BD+C’s 10 Predictions for the Construction Industry in 2022

Our prognostications focus on how AEC firms will streamline and modernize their projects and operations.

Contractors | Nov 4, 2021

Coping with labor and material shortages in construction

Learn how New York-based Denham Wolf Real Estate Services is helping its nonprofit builder clients minimize delays and cost overruns from labor and materials shortages. Ron Innocent, Director of Project Management with Denham Wolf Real Estate Services sits down with BD+C's John Caulfield.

Headquarters | Oct 28, 2021

Florida’s Seagate Development Group tackles design-build projects from a developer’s vantage

A “single point of contact” for clients, says its CEO.

Sustainability | Oct 28, 2021

Reducing embodied carbon in construction, with sustainability leader Sarah King

Sustainability leader Sarah King explains how developers and contractors can use the new EC3 software tool to reduce embodied carbon in their buildings.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Construction Costs

Data center construction costs for 2024

Gordian’s data features more than 100 building models, including computer data centers. These localized models allow architects, engineers, and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows a five-year view of costs per square foot for one-story computer data centers. 


Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.



Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021