Track2Realty: In a continuation of the company’s global growth plan, Cushman & Wakefield has entered into an agreement to acquire Singapore-based project management specialist company Project Solution Group (PSG).
This latest acquisition is aligned with the firm’s global strategy to strengthen its operations in Asia Pacific and when completed, will position Cushman & Wakefield as a market leader in Project Management services with one of the largest platforms in the Asia Pacific region and the ability to provide more in-depth experience, a broader reach and a wider range of integrated solutions to its global clients.
This acquisition follows Cushman & Wakefield’s announcement earlier this year that it had expanded its operations into Taiwan and Philippines with office openings in Taipei and Manila.
Founded in Singapore in 2004, PSG Asia offers professional Interior Design, Project Management and Construction services to over 40 multi-national corporations across Asia Pacific.
Headquartered in Singapore, PSG operates from 14 offices in 12 countries, with 70 staff throughout Asia and Middle East. The company was co-founded by Australian Mike Harrison, who will become the Executive Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Project Management services in Asia. Mike Harrison has more than 40 years of experience in Project Management, of which 14 have been spent within Asia Pacific.
In India, even while Project Management has been a service offered for over a decade, there is a recent spate in growth in demand from across verticals and from stake holders who have realised the importance of acquiring professional services that include construction management and project monitoring for ensuring a timely and budgeted delivery of their projects.
The potential of the market can further be gauged by the fact that construction activity is estimated at approximately 750 million sq ft. across office, retail and residential in the top seven cities of India alone. Of this, approximately 140 mn sf (approximately) is estimated to be office space, 23 msf (approximately) is the upcoming retail space while the rest is organised residential supply.
While specifically the demand for office space is estimated to be approximately 180 msf (2012 – 16) in a next five years, providing a vast window of opportunity for occupier project management services in India.
Sanjay Dutt – Executive, Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield says, “The strategic acquisition of PSG will contribute to C&W India’s Project Management capabilities and add greater depth and expanse to our service offerings. C&W will be able to now leverage on this development to be able to provide turn-key solutions to clients as well as provide design support apart from providing classical consultancy The inclusion of talent from PSG will be a step forward towards propelling C&W’s project management services by creating greater value for clients.”
C&W India has been a frontrunner in providing professional services in project management including, development, industrial and fit out management across the real estate asset classes and has portfolio of over 90 mn sf. Currently, C&W India commands approximately 20% of the total project management market share. A substantial part of the project management services has been focused on occupier side.
Sanjay further added, “The assimilation of talent from PSG and the experience of the C&W team will ensure that we are perfectly poised to provide our clients with tailor made solutions and thereby augment our market share. We are further looking at enhancing our portfolio by concentrating on demand generated from non conventional sectors such as education, healthcare, residential fit outs etc.”
Richard Middleton, Executive Managing Director of the Cushman & Wakefield’s Corporate Occupier and Investor Services in APAC says, “This acquisition is for our clients. With the addition of PSG to our team, we are now able to offer 3 distinctive services – in addition to the classic Project Management consultancy that we have been offering to date, we will also be able to offer design, through our own in-house design team, as well as a full turn-key solution which represents one of the best value propositions for clients, by transferring most of the design and all the construction risks to C&W at the start of the project. All in all, it’s about offering our clients the most efficient solution. Cushman & Wakefield will now be able to provide the broadest service offering of this nature in Asia Pacific.”
“PSG and Cushman & Wakefield complement one another. Cushman & Wakefield has been looking to expand in Singapore and China, both markets where PSG already has strength in numbers; and where Cushman & Wakefield already has a mature team, such as in India, we are now able to offer PSG clients a greater depth of expertise to tap into,” says Middleton.
Carlo Sant’Albano, Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Chairman says, “This acquisition represents a key milestone in the continuing strengthening of our Asia Pacific operations. Over the past 18 months we have added six new offices and over 900 new staff to our Asia operations and this latest acquisition of PSG propels us into a leadership position for the provision of project management services right across the region. Expanding our global property/project management capabilities is a strategic priority for us and this latest move follows our successful acquisition of Cousins Properties in US last year.”
Sanjay Verma, Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield in Asia-Pacific, comments, “Cushman & Wakefield is in a phase of growth in Asia Pacific. Our expansion plans are both geographical and service line focused, with the aim of enhancing our platform, for the benefit of our clients. Project Management has been a major focus for growth for us, and we have found the perfect solution with the acquisition of PSG. The key driver behind this deal was the cultural fit between Cushman & Wakefield and PSG. We share a common vision, values, client approach and the commitment to focus on our clients’ property objectives providing bespoke solutions with the highest quality of service.”
Mike Harrison, the newly appointed Executive Managing Director for Cushman & Wakefield’s Project Management services in Asia Pacific says, “Due to our long-standing, 9-year long relationship with Cushman & Wakefield in South East Asia, there is a true synergy between the two companies. Whilst we have a strong base of our own clients including multinational companies such as Facebook and Google, we have also serviced a number of the same clients as Cushman & Wakefield across the region, so this fusion of talent and experience is the natural next step for us. To be joining a firm of Cushman & Wakefield’s calibre is exciting and will enable us to offer our clients a more extensive reach beyond Asia Pacific.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s project management capabilities in Asia Pacific now include: Project Management Consultancy and Turn-Key design and build related services.
