TPG Capital close to Cushman-DTZ deal

New York

DAVID Bonderman's TPG Capital is close to a deal to buy commercial property brokerage Cushman & Wakefield Inc for about US$2 billion and combine it with DTZ Group, creating one of the world's biggest real estate services firms.

TPG is in advanced discussions with Cushman and its owners, Exor SpA, the Agnelli family's Italian holding company, according to people familiar with the matter.

An agreement could be announced as soon as next week, the people added.

One of the people cautioned that discussions were continuing and there was no certainty of a deal being completed.

Combining Cushman, the largest closely held commercial brokerage, with DTZ would result in a global company to rival CBRE Group Inc and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, the industry's No 1 and 2 firms, respectively. Creating a brokerage of that heft has been a goal for Brett White, executive chairman of DTZ and CBRE's former chief executive officer.

TPG, based in Fort Worth, Texas, bought DTZ late last year. In January, DTZ completed the acquisition of Cassidy Turley, a brokerage with strength in the Americas, creating a global top-three commercial real estate services firm. The combined company has about US$2.9 billion in annual revenue, according to a statement at the time.

DTZ had a market share for commercial property sales of more than 50 per cent in China and was ranked third in that category in the UK, according to the January statement.

Cushman, based in New York, reported revenue of US$2.85 billion last year. Net income rose 33 per cent to US$61.6 million from the previous year. Fee and service revenue from the Asia-Pacific region climbed 25 per cent.

Cushman was put up for sale by its majority owner, Exor. It hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer, people with knowledge of the plan said in February. TPG has been competing against a range of other private equity and strategic bidders, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Representatives of Goldman Sachs and TPG declined to comment. Peter Gallagher, a spokesman for Cushman, didn't return requests for comment outside of normal business hours. BLOOMBERG