DTZ, Cassidy Turley Merger = One of Top Three Global CRE Service Firms

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Tod Lickerman

Consign the Cassidy Turley name to the CRE history books, because as of yesterday the company and DTZ were “operating as a single global firm,” DTZ announced Monday.

The announcement capped a process that began last June, when a private equity investment consortium backed by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan agreed to buy DTZ, a global player in CRE services, from Australia’s UGL Ltd. for about $1.1 billion. UGL’s plan reportedly is to focus on its engineering and construction operations, primarily in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Before that transaction closed in November, however, the TPG/PAG Asia/OTPP joint venture made the move to buy Cassidy Turley, of Washington, D.C., via an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings and for an undisclosed price.

Several CRE analysts and consultants told Commercial Property Executive they think the DTZ–Cassidy Turley deal was a good one for both sides. It allowed Chicago-based DTZ, which is strong in Europe and Asia, to build its U.S. presence, while Cassidy Turley will gain what Jahn Brodwin of FTI Real Estate Solutions called a “critical mass” that would otherwise have been difficult to reach.

The merger of Cassidy Turley and DTZ creates what is one of the top three global CRE services companies, with $2.9 billion in annual revenues and more than 28,000 employees across more than 260 offices in more than 50 countries.

The combined company manages 3.3 billion square feet globally on behalf of institutional, government, corporate and private clients. It’s ranked No. 1 in China for investment sales transactions, with more than 50 percent market share, and is ranked No. 3 in London and the United Kingdom.

According to plan, Tod Lickerman is the merged company’s Global CEO; Cassidy Turley CEO Joseph Stettinius is now Chief Executive of the Americas, and Brett White, former CEO of CBRE Group, who also invested in the acquisition, will be the executive chairman as of March.

TPG is a global private investment firm founded in 1992 and with $66 billion of assets under management.

PAG Asia Capital is the private equity affiliate of PAG, one of the largest Asia-based alternative investment managers, with $11 billion in capital under management.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan and had $140.8 billion in net assets as of December 2013. It administers the defined-benefit pensions of 307,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario.