The merger talk in corporate leasing and property management is heating up with word that the Agnelli family through their Ifil Holding Company may be looking to purchase Cushman & Wakefield. The valuation of the company is a little under 1 billion dollars so this would be a substantial purchase.
Italy’s Agnelli family is considering a return to investing in the US and is negotiating to take control of Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate services company. The Agnellis, who founded Fiat and still own 30 per cent of the Italian industrial group, once owned 20 per cent of Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center but pulled back to concentrate on European investments in the late 1990s. They have lately been looking again at opportunities in the US and in Asia.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Estates owns 70 per cent of Cushman & Wakefield, a stake that could be worth up to $650m, analysts estimate. Talks are well advanced, people close to the negotiations said, but there are still obstacles to overcome and other potential bidders involved. via Financial Times Business News
