Italian company Ifil has confirmed media speculation that it has considered investing in Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately-held real estate advisor. Ifil is the investment company of the Agnelli Family, founders of the Fiat car company.
Italian company Ifil has confirmed media speculation that it has considered investing in Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately-held real estate advisor. Ifil is the investment company of the Agnelli Family, founders of the Fiat car company.
Ifil has published a short statement acknowledging Cushman & Wakefield was one of the number of investment opportunities it had looked at in recent months. 'As is the case with all such dossiers... this opportunity has not, to date, been formalised.' It will make a follow-up statement in a 'timely fashion' should anything arise, the company said.
The statement was a response to an article in the New York Post newspaper that claimed Ifil is in an advanced stage of talks with Japan's Mitsubishi Estate to buy the property advisor.
Mitsubishi Estates owns 70% of Cushman & Wakefield and analysts estimate the stake could be worth $650 mln (EUR 489 mln), the Financial Times reported.
The article in the New York Post said that sale price for Cushman & Wakefield would be based on a value of about $900 mln. But sources said a takeover still faced significant obstacles and other potential bidders are involved.
Cushman & Wakefield was founded by Clyde Cushman and Bernard Wakefield in New York City in 1917. It now has 192 offices in 58 countries and more than 11,000 professionals who help the firm's clients - landlords, tenants, and investors - to buy, sell, finance, lease, and manage property assets.
