Agnelli family to sell Cushman & Wakefield

World's third-largest real estate services firm could fetch as much as $2 billion

From left: An old Cushman & Wakefield office in New York, Edward Forst and John Elkann
From left: An old Cushman & Wakefield office in New York, Edward Forst and John Elkann

Cushman & Wakefield is going up for sale and could fetch as much as $2 billion.

The Agnelli family‘s Exor SpA, the entity that owns the majority of the real estate services firm, is hiring Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley to help them look for a buyer, according to the Wall Street Journal. Exor prefers to find a private buyer, the newspaper reported, and prefers not to sell the firm to a direct competitor.

In 2007, the Agnellis, who also control Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, paid $565.4 million for a 67.5 percent stake in the company. The family now has an 81 percent ownership stake in the firm.

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Sources told the newspaper that the family is looking to sell the 98-year-old firm because higher property prices are increasing the value of rivals. Cushman acquired New York-based Massey Knakal Realty Services for $100 million late last year.

Cushman recorded $163 million in earnings in the 12 months that ended in September, according to the newspaper.

Cushman and Exor are always reviewing ways to “create value and further accelerate” their plans, a Cushman spokesperson told the newspaper through a written statement. “There is currently no transaction to disclose, nor guarantee that such a review may result in any transaction.” [WSJ] — Claire Moses