GVA, the UK’s largest independent commercial property adviser, said on Monday that its shareholders have accepted the takeover offer from German engineering and services group Bilfinger by an overwhelming majority.
GVA, the UK’s largest independent commercial property adviser, said on Monday that its shareholders have accepted the takeover offer from German engineering and services group Bilfinger by an overwhelming majority.
GVA said that with 99% of shareholders backing the offer, the remainder will be obligated to offer their shares for sale.
The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price.
'With the purchase of GVA, Bilfinger has added complex real estate consulting and management services to its portfolio in the important UK market,' the German group said in a statement. At the end of 2013, Bilfinger also acquired facility services provider Europa Support Services, a company specialised in technical and infrastructural services.
With these two acquisitions, Bilfinger will increase the annual output volume of its building and facility business segment in the UK from €35 mln in 2013 to about €400 mln in the future.
Headquartered in London and with 12 offices, GVA is currently the UK’s largest independent commercial property consultant. Its overall business generated turnover of £147.3 mln (€177 mln) in the year ended 30 April 2013, up from £140.4 mln the previous year. The 190-year old agency is also the majority shareholder in GVA Worldwide, a partnership of independent commercial real estate companies serving over 50 markets throughout Europe and Asia.
The Bilfinger group is structured into four business segments – Industrial, Power, Construction and Building and Facility. The real estate division forms part of Building and Facility and has some 1,500 professionals who generate annual turnover of €160 mln. Bilfinger Real Estate has operations in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Poland, Canada and Australia. Its existing clients include RBS, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, AXA, Union Investment and IVG.
The decision to work with Bilfinger Real Estate as GVA’s preferred strategic merger partner follows the completion of a review by investment bank Canaccord Genuity into GVA’s options to pay back its minority private equity owner and grow on the international stage.
This transaction allows Lloyds Development Capital, the private equity investor with a 27.5% stake in GVA, to exit. LDC’s initial investment supported the company through a financial restructuring programme to help GVA secure access to external capital to undertake large acquisitions.
GVA's strategic review came after a restructuring of its debt in 2012 and sharp improvements in the company's pre-tax profits which grew from £146,000 in the 2011-12 financial year to £7.8 mln in 2012-13.
Last year, GVA completed a restructuring of its debt with shareholder Lloyds Development Capital, exchanging loan notes valued at £60 mln for a 27.5% stake in the company.