The commercial-real-estate giant Cushman & Wakefield has filed for an initial public offering.
The filing, published on Wednesday, shows that the company is betting on the continued growth of commercial real estate around the world and greater participation from institutional investors in the property market.
Cushman & Wakefield employs about 48,000 people worldwide and operates in 70 countries. Its revenue has grown every year since 2015 and totaled $6.92 billion in 2017, the filing showed. It has also operated at a loss, totaling $220.5 million last year.
The company plans to use the proceeds of the IPO to reduce its debt. As at the end of March, the company had over $3 billion in long-term debt, the filing showed.
DTZ Jersey Holdings, a European brokerage backed by the private-equity giant TPG Funds, bought Cushman & Wakefield for $2 billion in 2015. It has made other acquisitions to become one of the largest commercial-real-estate firms in the world.
The filing notes that key risks to the company’s business include tighter lending conditions, which would make it harder to invest in commercial properties, and difficulty in paying down debt.
The Real Deal earlier reported that the company had for a few years been speaking to bankers and advisers about an IPO.
Cushman & Wakefield’s IPO filing follows the listing in December by its fellow commercial brokerage Newmark Knight Frank. That stock peaked at $16.66 in late January but is still up nearly 9% from its debut.
Morgan Stanley is the lead underwriter for Cushman & Wakefield’s IPO, alongside JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and UBS.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
