Sherry Fitz sells commercial division
Property group Sherry FitzGerald is to focus on residential property, new homes, and mortgage provision, after selling its commercial property arm to minority partner Cushman & Wakefield.
The US commercial property company has owned 20% of Sherry FitzGerald’s commercial arm for the past two years and will take 100% ownership of the division, formerly DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, on completion of the deal, which is expected in September.
The former DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, which rebranded as Cushman & Wakefield Ireland in 2016, employs more than 100 commercial property agents in offices in Dublin, Limerick, and Galway.
No job losses will occur on the back of the deal, and all existing employees will be integrated into the Cushman & Wakefield group.
As part of the deal Cushman & Wakefield will also take a 27% stake in Sherry FitzGerald’s Cork-based commercial property business and a minority stake in its Belfast-based commercial unit. Both companies were structured differently to the main business and will remain majority-owned by existing shareholders.
Cushman & Wakefield said it is confident of seeing further growth in the Irish commercial property market.
“Our business has gone from strength to strength since adopting the Cushman & Wakefield brand and we have real momentum in the marketplace. We now have the opportunity to move to the next stage by leveraging the resources of our global network to shape the future of Irish property,” said the company’s Ireland head Aidan Gavin.
“We expect further growth as the Irish economy continues to strengthen and we integrate fully as a single firm with a truly seamless operation between Ireland and the UK,” said Colin Wilson, Cushman & Wakefield’s chief executive for the EMEA region.
“We are committed to profitably growing the scale and performance of our substantial EMEA business.”
Sherry FitzGerald chief executive Steven McKenna said the deal benefits both companies. “It makes sense for Cushman & Wakefield to solely own their Irish commercial business and equally it makes sense for us to have a simplified ownership structure and single brand,” he said.
“For Sherry FitzGerald Group, this sale provides us with the opportunity to back our ambitious plans to continue developing our core Sherry FitzGerald business.
“We will shortly be opening our 100th office in Ireland and are equally focused on providing a smarter business for the benefit of our clients through imaginative technology.”
