Q3 2019

14 EU BUSINESS NEWS / Q3 2019 , Avison Young’s New Deal Avison Young acquires Hamburg-based Völckers & Cie Immobilien GmbH Real Estate Advisors. Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, has recently announced that it has acquired Hamburg, Germany-based Völckers & Cie Immobilien GmbH Real Estate Advisors. The purchase represents Avison Young’s first acquisition in Germany and further expands the company’s full-service platform across the country. Additionally, the purchase also enhances the firm’s investment sales, industrial leasing and sales and office leasing business-line coverage, including tenant and landlord representation, in Hamburg. Founded in 1996 by Jochen Völckers and Marc Bachmann, Völckers & Cie is an office leasing and investment sales brokerage firm owned by its Principals. Effective immediately, Völckers & Cie is rebranded as Avison Young and 20 new members join the firm. Völckers becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the company’s Hamburg office. With 26 years of German commercial real estate industry experience, Völckers will oversee the Hamburg office’s day-to-day operations, co-ordinate the firm’s local industrial practice, and direct the company’s ongoing overall strategic expansion across the region. Bachmann, who has 28 years of commercial real estate industry experience in Germany, becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Director of Office Leasing in Hamburg. He will continue as a key account representative and serve new and existing clients with space mandates covering 1,000 square metres or more. “We’re thrilled that Jochen, Marc and their highly experienced team are joining the Avison Young family in Hamburg,” comments Rose. “They will help us provide an even higher level of service to clients throughout Hamburg, the rest of Germany and international markets. With Völckers & Cie, they have built and grown one of the strongest and most talented real estate brokerage organizations in Hamburg. Their sophisticated market knowledge, positive client and business relationships, outstanding leadership skills and entrepreneurism will be of tremendous benefit to our company, clients and partners alike as we continue to expand our full-service business-line coverage in Germany and across Europe.” Rose continues: “Furthermore, Jochen and Marc have established a highly collaborative culture and detailed management approach while emphasizing open communication with all parties. All of the new additions in Hamburg will be an ideal fit, and this acquisition will be seamless when it comes to serving clients and expanding our operations across Germany and throughout Europe.” Over the past 23 years, Völckers & Cie has represented a variety of organizations, ranging from smaller landlord entities to major office developers and occupiers as well as institutional investment firms. “We are pleased to complete our first acquisition in Germany and welcome the Völckers & Cie team to Avison Young,” states Udo Stöckl, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director, Germany. “We’re thrilled with the opportunity to substantially increase our local market presence and expertise. Jochen, Marc and their team will play critical roles in expanding Avison Young’s footprint in Hamburg’s dynamic office leasing, industrial and investment sales sectors. Völckers & Cie is a perfect match in terms of culture, partnership and services offered.” He adds: “Jochen’s and Marc’s demonstrated entrepreneurism and experience with small-and- medium-sized entities (SMEs) and institutional investors will help us provide more full-service offerings to Hamburg office and industrial occupiers, international investors seeking to capitalize on Germany’s stable real estate returns, and German companies looking to tap into Avison Young’s diverse North American and Asian networks.” The acquisition of Völckers & Cie is aligned with Avison Young’s enhanced European expansion program resulting from the purchase of U.K.-based GVA on February 1, 2019. Avison Young entered the German market in December 2014 through the opening of an office in Frankfurt. The company has expanded steadily in Germany since then, opening new offices in Munich (January 2015), Duesseldorf (March 2015), Hamburg (June 2015) and Berlin (July 2016). “This acquisition is the next step on our mission to establish a pan-European real estate advisory service,” states Gerry Hughes, Avison Young Principal and President, Europe. “We see Europe as having huge potential for our business model. We have an already fully established formula in the U.K. and a platform in Germany to develop. The acquisition of Völckers & Cie is another important step in expanding the German offer. In the next 18 months, we will build out our business line in Germany to include a range of consultancy services, expand in Poland, and open owned enterprises in the Netherlands, Ireland and France. We will also make full use of our legacy GVA Worldwide affiliate network to offer complete coverage across every European market.”