THEAFRICABAZAAR
August 16, 2016
Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield said on Monday it has teamed up with South Africa-based Excellerate Property Services to create a new real estate venture that will offer a range of real estate portfolio and services across sub-Saharan Africa.
The new enterprise, which will be called Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate, plans to offer clients a complete platform of real estate services that are customized to the sub-Saharan African markets by leveraging Excellerate Property Services’ established network of brands.
Excellerate Property Services group, which portfolio includes some of African major real estate brands such as property and facilities manager JHI, has commercial footprints across some of African major cities, including in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to statements, Excellerate Property Services has more than $450 million in transaction volume and manages an estimated $10 billion assets of real estate portfolio. The firm also has a significant shareholding in Profica, one of continent’s leading project management and construction management companies with offices in South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, along with associates in Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Cushman & Wakefield manages some of U.S.’s top real estate properties, including iconic buildings like One World Trade Center, the Equitable Building, and the Time Warner Building in New York city.
John Forrester, Chief Executive Officer for Cushman & Wakefield Europe, Middle East and Africa called the deal “a game-changing development for us in Africa.”
He added that the partnership will allow Cushman & Wakefield to extend delivery of all service lines across the sub-Saharan continent, via a single provider to its current clients. “As a firm, we are responsive to our clients’ needs and this partnership provides them with a first class, transparent, in-country platform across [Africa]. We will continue strengthening our capabilities across EMEA to ensure we have the best people and platform to deliver outstanding results for our clients,” Forrester said.
With major opportunities in the banking, telecoms, technology, energy and consumer goods sectors, many multinational corporations are looking to enter or are already present in the growing African markets, offering major real estate firms like Cushman & Wakefield, which currently has 5,000 employees in 40 countries in the EMEA region, opportunity to leverage their existing affiliate networks to extend delivery of services to clients into the markets, in particular providing services to some of the top global brands and investors.
According to the deal, the Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate firm will bring together the global platform of Cushman & Wakefield with the existing in-region business of Excellerate Property Services, which includes brands such as JHI and Excellerate Facility Management.
The new enterprise will initially operate across Excellerate Property Services’ existing 32 sub-Saharan Africa office locations in 11 countries, with additional legal entities established in Cameroon; Cote d’Ivoire; Gabon; Senegal; Tanzania; Uganda.
The firms plans to provide a comprehensive range of occupier and investor services, delivering core management and facilities services, project management, transactions, valuation and advisory services including strategic consulting, market surveys and development feasibility, the firm said.
Most employees from Excellerate Property Services’s brands, including DTZ affiliate and DTZ Leadenhall have already joined Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate, with the exception of Profica, which will become a spin-off outside of the new platform.
Commenting on the deal, Chief Executive Officer of Excellerate Property Services Marna van de Walt said the company is very excited about the future of Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate which will provide existing clients with integrated access to a global platform as well as “providing clients with value adding advice that comes from a deep understanding of local markets across Africa.”
Jonathan Turner, Senior Director and Cushman & Wakefield relationship manager for Africa, said: the firm’s global strength, combined with Excellerate Property Services’ in-region expertise, trusted brand and client base creates a market-leading sub-Saharan Africa platform that “will provide clients with the scale, flexibility and strong corporate governance expected by global corporations.”
“Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate also lays the foundation for further growth in Africa by increasing Cushman & Wakefield’s capability to service both international and intraregional requirements, for occupiers and investors alike,’ he added.
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