CBRE Group Inc. has cut a deal to make one of its largest acquisitions ever, paying roughly $1.3 billion, or £960 million, for a 60% stake in Turner & Townsend Holdings Ltd., one of the world’s largest managers of infrastructure, natural-resources and real-estate construction projects.
CBRE, the world’s largest commercial-real-estate-services firm, is buying a controlling stake in the London-based company partly in anticipation of a wave of investment in alternative energy and infrastructure in the coming years. The owners and corporate tenants of many of the buildings CBRE manages and leases have put a priority on steps to reduce their carbon footprints, according to Bob Sulentic, the firm’s chief executive.
“There’s not much [that is] more important on our clients’ radar today than carbon neutrality and green energy,” Mr. Sulentic said.
The 75-year-old Turner & Townsend has clients in 46 countries and is known for its project-management assignments on high-profile projects such as the London skyscraper known as the Shard.
The firm had been planning to expand in alternative energy and other businesses when it began talking to CBRE about a possible deal, according to Vincent Clancy, its chief executive. Having CBRE as a well-capitalized and well-connected partner will enable it to accelerate that expansion plan, he said.
