CBRE Group, Inc. Acquires EA Shaw

Acquisition of Specialist London Property Consultancy Expands CBRE's Presence in the City’s Commercial Property Market and Significantly Enhances its Residential Capabilities in London

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a leading global commercial real estate services and investment firm, today announced the acquisition of EA Shaw, an independent commercial and residential property partnership which specialises in central London.

Founded in 1899, EA Shaw provides commercial and residential investment, management, asset management and leasing services to clients including Shaftesbury PLC, Soho Estates, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Legal & General. Earlier this year, EA Shaw was named London Property Advisor of the Year by Estates Gazette for the fifth time in six years.

EA Shaw will become part of CBRE’s Central London business under the leadership of Adam Hetherington and will continue to operate from its office in Covent Garden. Through the transaction, CBRE brings on board an established team of commercial real estate professionals in London’s Midtown and South Bank areas, including Nick Bark, Head of Management, and Charlie Killen, Head of Commercial. The EA Shaw professionals complement CBRE’s market-leading position in the West End, City and East London markets.

During the first nine months of 2012, CBRE was the most active capital markets advisor in the UK and central London, according to CoStar, and the top office leasing agent in London in Q3 2012, according to Estates Gazette.

The acquisition also significantly enhances CBRE’s fast-growing central London residential business, which will now offer a full range of services in the prime and super-prime segments of the market, including lettings, development consultancy and property management services. The transaction also boosts CBRE’s existing development marketing and sales/acquisition capabilities.

Over the past two years, CBRE has built a network of residential experts based in key markets across Europe and Asia focused on promoting super prime opportunities in central London. CBRE Residential already serves a range of clients including Berkeley Homes, Exemplar, CIT and Barratts.

CBRE’s Mark Collins will become Chairman of the combined residential business with EA Shaw’s Lisa Hollands serving as Managing Director, and CBRE’s Chris Lacey continuing as Head of Residential Funding & Investment. The enlarged residential team will operate from both EA Shaw’s existing Covent Garden offices and CBRE’s Henrietta House base in the West End.

Michael Strong, Chairman & CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, said:

“We are committed to continually investing in our business with a focus on improving our offer to clients. London is one of the most important real estate markets globally and extending our leadership position to new segments of the city enhances our ability to respond to client requirements. EA Shaw is an ideal partner for us; our combined commercial and residential offerings provide another significant dimension to our London and international capabilities.”

Adam Hetherington, Managing Director, Central London, CBRE commented:

“The combination of EA Shaw and CBRE creates a formidable force in the central London market with a unique capability to provide advice across both the residential and commercial sectors. EA Shaw is highly regarded in the residential market, and alongside their strength in development marketing, they bring a highly skilled lettings, management and second-hand sales/acquisitions services team to CBRE.”

EA Shaw’s Charlie Killen added:

“We are exceptionally proud of our achievements at EA Shaw. By aligning our specialist expertise and intensive market knowledge with CBRE’s broad-ranging capabilities and truly global reach, we will be able to provide our current and future clients with the best possible service. We believe this transaction creates a powerful proposition for those seeking to promote or access opportunities in the central London market. In particular, the prospects for furthering our commercial real estate business and building a sizeable residential team together serving the cross-border prime and super-prime markets are incredibly exciting.”

This is the second investment CBRE has made in the UK this year, following the acquisition of Franc Warwick in September.

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2011 revenue). The Company has approximately 34,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

“Safe Harbor” Statement Under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Certain of the statements in this release regarding the acquisition of EA Shaw that do not concern purely historical data are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the ''safe harbor'' provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the ability of the parties to successfully integrate the operations of EA Shaw with CBRE’s existing commercial and residential real estate operations in the London market, and the ability to leverage the combined operations to capture a larger share of the prime and super-prime residential market and the commercial market in London, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in CBRE’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws, CBRE expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any of them to reflect actual results, any changes in expectations or any change in events. If CBRE does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. For additional information concerning factors that may cause actual results to differ from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, and risks to CBRE’s business in general, please refer to the Company’s SEC filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012. Such filings are available publicly and may be obtained off the Company's website at www.cbre.com or upon request from the CBRE Investor Relations Department at [e-mail].