Private equity house TPG’s long-mooted acquisition of DTZ completes on Wednesday. Another year, another owner, many will say.
But the sale by UGL to an acquisitive backer at an attractive point in the cycle offers an opportunity to DTZ that could shake up the entire market.
Top brass will sweep into London next week, as part of a global engagement tour. And they will have much to promise.
Contracts have already been exchanged on the next big acquisition; US giant Cassidy Turley, a deal that completes in January when the firm will come under the DTZ banner and swell revenue to $2.9bn (£1.8bn).
A rebrand is inevitable and many in the business will be hoping for a return to its traditional red after almost four years under the blue flag of UGL.
With former CBRE chief executive Brett White set to take over as DTZ chairman in March, further corporate activity is inevitable. Rumours already abound of swoops that would have been laughed off a few short years – or even months – ago. White won’t be looking just to build a top-four global player. He will want to challenge and ultimately usurp CBRE and JLL.
After half a decade of too-frequent turmoil, DTZ might not be getting off the rollercoaster on Wednesday. But the next part of the ride should be a lot more fun.
■ A sub-£100m IPO is seldom something to shout about. But in a climate where many have failed to get out of the blocks, it is something to celebrate, especially when it marks the creation of a new REIT.
Former Schroders boss William Hill and Ediston Real Estate founder Danny O’Neill are part of a heavyweight team behind Ediston Property Investment Company, which plans to grow to a £400m player. EPIC (and do you think they worked back from the acronym to name the vehicle?) has taken a little while to get off the ground, but with a strong team and value-add aspirations seeded by the purchase of a £77m portfolio from Europa Capital, the right building blocks are in place.
■ It’s two weeks until the London Property Summit at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster. The place will be swarming with developers, investors and advisers. But there will also be other notables who you would be wise to seek out on stage or over coffee. Hang on the words of Qatari Diar chief executive Michael Patrizio, while Gieves & Hawkes chairman Mark Henderson will provide a very different voice too. Meanwhile, with local authorities tripping over themselves to appear open for business, the leaders of the London boroughs of Brent, Lewisham, Haringey, Wandsworth, Camden, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster will prove popular. For more go to www.thelondonpropertysummit.com.
■ Tesco is in a (own-brand) pickle. The graphs on the walls of its Cheshunt HQ are pointing downwards and the sombre suits of the Serious Fraud Office are among those seeking a word.
Its property portfolio, once such a premium item, is in danger of losing its lustre: analysts are questioning whether the £20bn value applied by Tesco itself stacks up. And for landlords (Tesco owns a little over half its estate), the supermarket’s covenant is looking less like it belongs in the Finest category.
It’s a very British trait to revel in the humbling of a giant. But that should not apply in Tesco’s case: too many have a stake in its recovery.
■ Here’s a date for your diary: 21 October will see the doors open on the second MIPIM UK at London Olympia. And here’s a prediction – and a test for the market. I’ll bet a bottle of rosé that some wise guy launches a modest drinks event in the vicinity of the Croisette in that very week, probably inviting property’s true “Olympians” to attend. And if no one does, perhaps we should worry whether the market’s swagger is sustainable.
