Simpson Thacher is representing CBRE Group, Inc. (“CBRE”) in connection with its announced acquisition of the remaining equity interests of Industrious National Management Company LLC (“Industrious”) not otherwise held by CBRE. Since 2020, CBRE has invested in Industrious through an approximately 40% equity interest and a $100 million convertible note. CBRE will acquire the remaining equity stake for approximately $400 million, reflecting an implied enterprise valuation of approximately $800 million. The transaction is expected to close later this month, subject to customary closing conditions.
Industrious is a leading provider of flexible workplace solutions that was founded in 2012. The company is known for its pioneering asset-light business model that emphasizes partnership agreements, which drive alignment with property owners. Industrious operates more than 200 flexible workspaces across the globe in more than 65 cities.
CBRE, a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue) and offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management, property management, investment management, appraisal and valuation, property leasing, strategic consulting, property sales, mortgage services, and development services. In conjunction with the acquisition, CBRE will create a new business segment called Building Operations & Experience. This new segment will unify building operations, workplace experience and property management, positioning CBRE to deliver scalable, future-ready solutions for offices, data centers, warehouses and other facilities.
The Simpson Thacher team includes Mark Pflug, Matthew Fisher, E.R. Rolwes and Bret Johanneson (M&A); Benjamin Rippeon, Sophie Staples and Ruoxi Zhang (Tax); Tristan Brown, Harry Hudesman and Guanxiong Xu (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits); Lori Lesser, Alysha Sekhon and Alex Kokka (Intellectual Property); Krista McManus, Dennis Loiacono and Helene Marie Snyder (Real Estate); Toby Chun and Manideepa Sarkar (Environmental); Mark Skerry and Ryan Thomas (Foreign Direct Investment); Peter Guryan, Étienne Renaudeau, Kelly Karapetyan, Max Fischer-Zernin and Luke Cowdell (Antitrust); and Steven DeLott (Insurance).