Cushman & Wakefield acquires Australian trade services business

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) today announced the acquisition of one of South Australia’s largest trade services businesses, Smith Brothers Group (Smith Brothers), comprising 200 people, enhancing the company’s facilities services across Australia and New Zealand. The team will join Cushman & Wakefield’s Australian occupier services platform and be part of the company’s Global Occupier Services network that manages 3.5B SF across the world.

The acquisition of Smith Brothers, one of the largest private services groups in South Australia with a national portfolio of 6,000 customers complements Cushman & Wakefield’s existing national team of more than 1,800 property professionals, supporting one of Australia’s largest occupier portfolios with more than 9 million sqm under management. As part of the acquisition, Smith Brothers founder, Chris Smith, will lead Cushman & Wakefield’s trade services business in Australia and New Zealand.

Matthew Bouw, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Cushman & Wakefield, said: "I am thrilled to welcome Chris Smith and the team to Cushman & Wakefield. This acquisition combined with our 27,000+ facilities management associates globally, advances our ability to deliver the highest quality, globally integrated services to major occupier clients in any market across the world.”

James Patterson, Chief Executive, Australia and New Zealand, Cushman & Wakefield, commented: "This acquisition not only expands occupier services with an additional 200 staff in South Australia, it also adds to the current depth of experience and capability in education, government and health.

"In addition, Smith Brothers Group’s innovative use of technology will complement Cushman & Wakefield’s global technology platform, to build a more robust, truly integrated, end-to-end property service for our current and future clients,” Mr. Patterson said.

Chris Smith, Smith Brothers founder and newly appointed Head of Trade Services, Cushman & Wakefield, said: "We see tremendous value for Smith Brothers clients and staff in joining Cushman & Wakefield. The two companies present a great cultural fit, leveraging the innovative and agile operating model of Smiths Brothers to expand Cushman & Wakefield’s trades business across Australia and New Zealand and to better serve our clients.

"Improvement in technology is continually enabling new ways of working in trade and facilities services and this will further transform the industry in 2019. The combined business now has an enhanced capability to deploy the latest technology and data-backed reporting methods to support the direct and outsourced delivery of trade services, and this will set Cushman & Wakefield apart,” Mr. Smith said.

Source: Cushman & Wakefield

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 51,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2018, the firm had revenue of $8.2 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

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