GVA Scots operation acquired as part of takeover by Avison Young

Property consultancy GVA, whose network includes two offices in Scotland with some 100 staff, is being acquired by Avison Young.

L-R: Jason Sibthorpe, principal and UK managing director, Avison Young; Gerry Hughes, CEO, GVA; Andreas Aschenbrenner, partner at EQT Partners; Mark Rose, chair and CEO, Avison Young. Picture: Contributed

GVA has about 1,500 employees overall across 15 offices in the UK, Ireland and Poland. It is also a founding member and majority shareholder of GVA Worldwide, an international organisation of licensed affiliate commercial property companies with offices in 25 countries.

Avison Young has agreed to buy the firm from Apleona, a portfolio company of private equity outfit EQT. Avison will combine the GVA business with its existing UK operations.

The transaction is expected to close some time during the first quarter of 2019.

Keith Aitken, regional senior director for GVA in Scotland, said: “We could not have asked for a better outcome for the GVA business, our clients and our staff.

“We now enter a new era as a key component of a global real estate advisory platform, which will allow us to further flourish and better serve global clients. We look forward to joining the Avison Young partnership and continuing to provide excellent real estate advisory services to our clients in Scotland and further afield.”

Avison Young currently has 2,700 property professionals in 85 offices in Canada, the US, Mexico, the UK, Germany, Romania and Korea. Worldwide, the combined operations will have 5,000-plus people in more than 120 offices across 25 countries.

Avison Young boss Mark Rose said: “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome GVA to Avison Young. This is a transformational event that underpins our ambition and intent to significantly expand our footprint in Europe and beyond. Avison Young’s UK business will now be a genuine challenger brand.”