Cushman and Wakefield May Be Pressed as Industry Consolidation Favors Larger Peers

Cushman & Wakefield underwent a major business transformation after the combination of DTZ, Cassidy Turley, and Cushman & Wakefield in 2015. The merged company expanded its geographical presence, added incremental capabilities, and gained scale, which we view as a competitive necessity if the firm intends to effectively compete with its larger rivals, CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle, for lucrative global contracts from multinational clients. The company has benefited from secular trends in the commercial real estate services industry and has grown strongly through a combination of organic investments, tuck-in acquisitions, and active recruitment of fee-earning teams. Mergers and acquisitions is a strategic pillar in the firm's quest to become a single-source provider for the full spectrum of real estate-related services across a truly global footprint.