Former Bilfinger unit Apleona plans to lift overall revenue by 50% to €3 bn in 2021 and double the value of its UK business GVA over the same period, the company’s CEO Jochen Keysberg told PropertyEU in an interview.
The ambitious expansion plan follows its acquisition last year by Swedish private equity firm EQT. The Stockholm-based company, which acquired the ISS business in the early 2000s and subsequently transformed into one of the world’s largest facility managers, will also help accelerate Apleona’s further development, Keysberg said. ‘Our new owner takes us from being part of a global services group to a real estate service provider focused on growth within Europe. EQT is quite selective in its takeover targets and has the goal to elevate them to the next level.’
The Swedish private equity firm owns around 70 companies in a variety of industries including automotive such as Daimler, facility services such as E.ON and engineering such as Siemens, with 140,000 employees and revenues of €17 bn in total. The ISS business went public in 2014.
EQT’s motivation for adding Apleona to its stable is its belief that the European real estate services sector is set to benefit from the growth of outsourced real estate services and a trend towards an integrated service offering to customers. Apleona’s focus going forward lies on further developing its integrated services offering across its European platform. The plan is to expand Apleona’s platform through organic growth as well as via acquisitions, Keysberg confirmed. ‘We aim to grow faster than the market in Europe.’
Leader in German-speaking countries
The former Bilfinger unit traditionally has a stronger focus on facility management and technical services while GVA has a strong foothold as an advisor in the public sector in the UK as well as project management. Apleona claims to be the market leader for FM services in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as well as a leading property manager in Germany and Switzerland.
Under its new owner, Apleona will stand on two legs, Keysberg said: real estate advisory services and facility management. ‘What differentiates us from a traditional broker is our focus on advisory and technical expertise.’
EQT acquired the former real estate arm of German construction firm Bilfinger in the summer of 2016 for around €1.2 bn. The deal also includes UK-based advisory firm GVA which has been rebranded since the takeover as GVA, an Apleona company. In 2016 Apleona generated revenue of €2 bn excluding the €500 mln of revenue from the construction unit which was sold at the end of the year.
