May 13, 2014 Bilfinger Real Estate plans merger with UK property

News
May 13, 2014
Bilfinger Real Estate plans merger with UK property consultant GVA
Bilfinger Real Estate and the UK's largest independent commercial property
consultant, GVA, are planning to merge.
From its headquarters in London, the company, which specialises in property
consultancy services is retained by private sector investors, occupiers,
developers and for the public sector, including local authorities and
Government departments. GVA enjoys an excellent reputation in the market.
The consulting services it offers include project management, planning and
transactional services.
Other areas of focus include property valuation, investment, occupier and
tenant representative consultancy, as well as asset and property management
and building management. GVA has around 2,800 clients including funds and
large corporates, such as RBS, HSBC, BMW and BASF.
GVA has over 1,300 employees in the UK. With 12 regional offices in all major
economic regions of the UK and Ireland, GVA has a strong regional presence.
Through its partner network, GVA Worldwide, the consultancy firm is
additionally represented in 21 countries in Continental Europe, the USA, Asia
and Australia.
Bilfinger Real Estate, which is part of the international service and engineering
group Bilfinger, currently operates around 30 locations in Germany and has
approximately 1,500 employees worldwide. As part of its international growth
strategy, Bilfinger Real Estate announced at the start of the month that it was
taking over the asset management specialist for transport and infrastructure
projects from the Bilfinger Group. The company thus started the year by
successfully expanding its international presence. It currently provides services
for private and institutional investors from its bases in Europe, North America
and Australia.
Through the merger, the company is now planning to further expand its
business activities internationally. Aydin Karaduman, CEO of Bilfinger Real
Estate, explains: "Our goal is to become one of the leading international real
estate service providers, with the ability to support the investment activities of
our clients across borders and to manage their real estate portfolios anywhere
in the world. With London as Europe's financial centre, the United Kingdom is
among the three largest investment and property markets in the world. We
want to – and have to – have a presence here to achieve our goal. In addition
to giving us a strong, nationwide presence in the UK market, the strategic
merger with GVA will provide us with critical access to international investors
and allow us to take on international management and consulting mandates."
Real Estate Bilfinger Real
Estate GmbH
Olof-Palme-Straße 17
60439 Francfort
Allemagne
Contact : Andre Zahlten
Responsable Marketing &
Communication
Téléphone +49 69 450010-111
Fax +49 69 450010-119
[email protected]
www.realestate.bilfinger.com
For the merger to take place, GVA shareholders now have to vote their
approval. Voting will take place through June with the results known by 30th
June. The transaction will involve a transfer of GVA’s existing shares to give
Bilfinger Real Estate 100 % ownership.
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Grâce à la fusion avec GVA, la société envisage désormais d’étendre
ses activités commerciales au niveau international. Aydin Karaduman,
président directeur général de Bilfinger Real Estate précise : « Notre
objectif est de devenir un prestataire de services immobiliers leader sur
le plan international qui accompagne les activités d’investissement de
ses clients dans tous les pays et qui est en mesure de gérer leurs parcs
immobiliers partout dans le monde. Avec Londres comme centre
financier européen, la Grande-Bretagne fait partie des trois plus grands
marchés des investissements et des biens immobiliers du monde entier.
Nous voulons et devons y être présents afin d’atteindre notre objectif.
La fusion stratégique avec GVA nous procure, outre une forte présence
sur l’ensemble du marché britannique, des accès déterminants aux
investisseurs internationaux et nous permet de reprendre des mandats
internationaux de gestion et de consultation. »
Aux fins de la conclusion de la fusion des deux parties, l’approbation
des actionnaires de GVA est nécessaire maintenant. Le vote aura lieu
en juin et les résultats seront annoncés le 30 juin. Dans le cadre de la
transaction, toutes les parts de GVA doivent être transférées à 100 % à
Bilfinger Real Estate.