Private equity consortium acquires property adviser DTZ

A consortium comprising TPG Capital (TPG), PAG Asia Capital (PAG) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is buying Australia group UGL's property services division, DTZ, for A$1.2 bn (€840 mln).

Engineering conglomerate UGL announced on Monday morning that it has entered into a binding sales agreement with the consortium.

Sydney-listed UGL had acquired London-based broker DTZ for about €90 mln in December 2011, and merged it with its own property services business. In August 2013 UGl said that it intended to demerge DTZ, possibly with a separate listing. Later as unsolicited offers were made it was decided to sell the property adviser.

UGL managing director and CEO, Richard Leupen said: 'As highlighted when we announced our intention to pursue a demerger, the operational and strategic priorities and financial requirements of DTZ and Engineering are increasingly diverging. We believe that a separation of the two distinct businesses is the right decision to allow both DTZ and Engineering to solely focus on their own strategies and opportunities for growth unhindered.'

TPG is a US-based global private investment firm founded in 1992, with more than US$59 bn (€44 bn) of assets under management.

PAG is the largest Asia-focused alternative investment managers with funds under management across private equity, real estate and absolute return strategies with US$10 bn in capital under management. PAG has a solid track record in real estate, completing over 500 real estate related transactions throughout Asia with total investment value in excess of US$20 bn.

OTPP is one of the largest institutional investment management organisations in the world, with over C$140 bn (€95 bn) in assets under management as of 31 December 2013.