Cushman & Wakefield plc is a global commercial real estate services firm. The company's headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois. Cushman & Wakefield is among the world's largest commercial real estate services firms, with revenues of US$8.8 billion in 2019. The company operates from approximately 400 offices in 60 countries, has around 53,000 employees and manages about 3.6 billion square feet of commercial space.
History
Cushman & Wakefield was founded in New York City on October 31, 1917, by brothers-in-law J. Clydesdale Cushman and Bernard Wakefield. In the 1960s, Cushman & Wakefield began a national expansion, establishing offices throughout the U.S. In 1969, RCA acquired Cushman & Wakefield, selling its stake to The Rockefeller Group in 1976. In 1989, Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. became the majority shareholder in The Rockefeller Group. In 1990, a presence in Europe was established through the acquisition of Healey & Baker. Healey & Baker was started in London in 1820 by George Healey, who took building leases on Crown lands to the east and north of Regent's Park at the time when Regent Street was being built. In 1910, George Henry Baker joined the firm and became a partner and started focusing on commercial property in 1920, when the firm became known as Healey & Baker. In 1994, C&W worldwide partnership was established with real estate services firms in the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America, Mexico, and Canada. In 2001, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Cushman Realty Corporation, increasing its presence on the West Coast and Southwest United States, bringing CRC founders John C. Cushman III and Louis B. Cushman back to the firm founded by their grandfather, J. Clydesdale Cushman and great-uncle, Bernard Wakefield. John C. Cushman became Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Louis B. Cushman, Vice Chairman. The Cushman & Wakefield Alliance Program was formed in 2002 to expand service capabilities for clients in U.S. markets where owned offices were not maintained. In 2007, IFIL, the investment group of the Agnelli family, acquired an approximately 70 percent stake in Cushman & Wakefield becoming the firm's majority shareholders and replacing the Rockefeller Group as majority shareholder of the firm. That same year, Cushman & Wakefield carried out a series of acquisitions which include real estate investment banking firm Sonnenblick Goldman, Semco, Alston Nock. On February 24, 2015, it was confirmed that Exor SpA had approved management's hiring of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to help look for a buyer for Cushman. On May 11, 2015, DTZ, a commercial-real-estate-services firm backed by private-equity giant TPG, PAG Asia Capital, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, agreed to buy Cushman & Wakefield Inc. for $2 billion. On September 1, 2015, Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ merged. The firm now operates under the Cushman & Wakefield brand. The new Cushman & Wakefield is majority owned by an investor group led by TPG, PAG, and OTPP. The two companies combined for $6 billion in revenues and 45,000 employees. In 2016, the two engaged in more than $191 billion in commercial real estate transactions and approximately 4.3 billion square feet under management. In October 2017, Chaney Brooks became an alliance partner with Cushman & Wakefield establishing a foothold in the Hawaii & Guam markets by partnering with one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the islands. In March 2018, Cushman & Wakefield had debts amounting to $3.1 billion, an increase of $300 million compared with the end of 2017. The company had a debt-annual revenue ratio of 44 %, which was higher than that of its competitors CBRE Group, JLL and Zillow. In June 2018, Cushman & Wakefield filed a S1 form with the Securities & Exchange Commission announcing its intent to be listed on the NYSE. It became listed on the New York Stock Exchange on August 2, 2018.
