Private equity firm KKR has expressed interest in buying Bilfinger’s property businesses, according to reports in the German and Austrian media.
Valued in the region of €1bn (£757m), Bilfinger’s property divisions, Bilfinger GVA and Bilfinger Real Estate, were subject to approaches earlier this month, prompting the company to appoint advisers to explore a possible sale.
GVA was bought by Bilfinger for around £150m in 2014 in a deal that merged GVA’s real estate advisory division with Bilfinger’s facilities management business. A demerger would separate the two pillars from Bilfinger’s engineering business.
Such a demerger and purchase by a private equity firm would recall DTZ’s trajectory in recent years. UGL bought DTZ in 2011 before merging it with its facilities management business and then demerging the enlarged entity to a TPG-backed consortium in 2014.
The consortium has since bought Cushman & Wakefield.
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