Engel & Völkers CEO Sven Odia and Permira managing partner Kurt Björklund (Engel & Völkers, Permira)
Look out luxury market, Engel & Völkers is coming through with a big wad of cash.
British private equity firm Permira will acquire a majority stake in the international luxury brokerage, it announced Monday.
The deal, which leaves Engel & Völkers CEO Sven Odia and chief financial officer Thilo von Trotha and the Völkers family with about 40 percent of shares, is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of this year.
Permira has 15 offices across Europe, Asia and the U.S. and has secured $44 billion euros ($52 million) worth of committed capital for more than 35 years.
The private equity firm has backed more than 280 businesses, and focuses on investment opportunities across technology, consumer, services and healthcare sectors. In Germany, its funds have led to the successful IPO of companies such as remote desktop software firm TeamViewer.
Engel & Völkers cited its “impressive growth trajectory” as the right time to work with Permira to develop new strategies and expand the brand’s potential in the tech space.
“We expect commission revenues to exceed 1 billion euros by the end of the year, generated by over 11,500 real estate advisors writing their own success story under the Engel & Völkers brand,” Odia said in a statement.
The increase in capital could also help the brand become more competitive in the American market, Engel & Völkers president Anthony Hitt told Inman.
Engel & Völkers founder Christian Völkers leads the firm’s advisory board, which Permira executives Jorg Rockenhäuser and David Brückmann will soon join. Sven Odia will remain as CEO.
Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1977, Engel & Völkers has more than 14,500 people working under its brand at 900 locations across 30 countries.
The company profits from its digital tools and sales mandates, and hopes to use new innovation strategies to increase digitalization and expand to markets in other countries such as the U.K.
