DTZ was a London-based commercial property company. Tracing its origins back to 1853, it merged with Cushman & Wakefield in 2015 and its brand was retired.

DTZ
FormerlyDebesnham, Tewson & Chinnocks
IndustryCommercial property
Founded1853
Defunct2015
HeadquartersLondon, England
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Tod Lickerman (Chief Executive Officer)
Number of employees
47,000 (2014)
Websitewww.dtzglobal.com

History edit

Debenham & Tewson was established in London in 1853. In 1913 it merged with Chinnock, Clarke & Chinnock to form Debenham, Tewson & Chinnocks. In 1987, Debenham, Tewson & Chinnocks was listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 1993, a joint venture was formed with Jean Thouard of France, and the Zadelhoff Group of Germany and the Netherlands, forming DTZ.[1]

Timothy Melville-Ross (previously chair of Nationwide Building Society and director-general of the Institute of Directors) was chairman of the board for a period around 2005.[2]

In December 2011, parent company DTZ Holdings was placed into administration and its business entities were sold to UGL in order to repay £77.5m of an outstanding £106m debt owed to Royal Bank of Scotland. The shareholders' equity was wiped out after a deal with majority shareholder Saint George Participations and BNP Paribas Real Estate fell through.[3][4][5] The company was reportedly worth almost £500m around 2006.[4] The company was in financial difficulty after a spending spree prior to a financial crisis, buying Rockwood in the US and retail agent Donaldsons.[4]

In November 2014, DTZ was sold to a consortium of TPG Capital, PAG and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.[6][7] On 1 September 2015 Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ merged, and the DTZ brand was retired.[8]

DTZ Investors continues as an entity of Cushman & Wakefield and operates as a full-service vertically integrated real estate manager.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ "About DTZ: History". DTZ. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Hosking, Patrick (8 September 2005). "Investors advised against re electing DTZ chairman". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  3. ^ UGL acquires DTZ for £77.5 million UGL 5 December 2011
  4. ^ a b c Ruddick, Graham (6 December 2011). "DTZ becomes a victim of the financial crisis". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  5. ^ "DTZ equity worth little or nothing, shares plunge". Reuters. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  6. ^ UGL eyes John Holland after $1.2b DTZ buy Australian Financial Review 15 June 2014
  7. ^ DTZ becomes a private independent global property services company DTZ 5 November 2014
  8. ^ Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ Announce Completion of Merger Cushman & Wakefield 2 September 2015
  9. ^ "About Us". DTZ Investors. Retrieved 22 February 2024.