DTZ affiliate completes acquisition of Cassidy Turley: sources

Tri-state region to be led by Peter Hennessy, Joseph Swingle

UPDATED, 7:35 a.m., Jan. 4: An affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings closed Wednesday on the acquisition of the U.S. brokerage Cassidy Turley, a transaction that locally will lead to the combination of the two Manhattan offices into one, The Real Deal has learned.

The purchase price was pegged at $557 million — or nine times earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization —  by a person familiar with the terms of the deal, but that number could not be verified.

Cassidy Turley shareholders are expected to be paid next week from the proceeds of the sale, several people with knowledge of the transaction told TRD.

The Midtown offices of DTZ and Cassidy Turley will merge and the tri-state will be led by the current regional president of Cassidy Turley, Peter Hennessy. Joseph Swingle, a managing principal with Cassidy Turley, is expected to have a leadership role as well, a company memorandum shows. The two companies will combine under the DTZ name as of Jan. 5.

A spokesperson for DTZ declined to comment.

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Cassidy Turley has about 160 people in the tri-state region, while DTZ has about 70. Both firms have the vast majority of their professionals in their Manhattan offices.

The companies are expected to consolidate at the Cassidy Turley office at 277 Park Avenue. DTZ is located at 1271 Sixth Avenue.

DTZ Investment Holdings is backed by private equity firm TPG Capital, in partnership with PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. That group acquired DTZ in November for $1.1 billion.

The combined brokerage firm including both DTZ and Cassidy Turley has more than 28,000 employees globally and revenues of approximately $2.9 billion, according to DTZ. Brett White, the former CEO of CBRE, is set to take over as executive chairman in March.

Clarification: A previous version of this article did not provide the complete description of the entity that acquired Cassidy Turley, which is an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings.