CBRE Aquires Belgian Affiliate

BRUSSELS-CBRE has acquired complete ownership of Sogesmaint-CBRE, a company that has been managing properties in Belgium and Luxembourg for 40 years. CBRE has held a minority interest in the company since 2006.

Sogesmaint-CBRE was founded in 1973 and grew to become one of the leading asset management firms in Belgium, managing more than 4.6 million square feet (1.4M sqm) across 90 properties throughout the country and also provides project management and leasing services.

The firm's professional staff will become part of CBRE's leading EMEA Property and Asset Management practice, which manages more than 115 million square feet (35M sq m) of assets across the region with a focus on premier properties, shopping centers and major portfolios. In response to growing client demand, CBRE has significantly strengthened this capability in the region, underlined by its recent acquisitions of IMPACT-CORTI and Euro Mall Center Management, two property management firms operating in Central Europe, and SCM, a shopping center specialist in the Netherlands.

“Our business continually evolves to ensure we meet the current and future needs of our clients,” said Michael Strong, CBRE's executive chairman. “The Sogesmaint-CBRE acquisition is part of this commitment, ensuring we have the leading property and asset management platform across the EMEA region, and builds on our recent acquisitions that have expanded our business in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania Since first partnering with Sogesmaint-CBRE in 2006, we have had an exceptionally strong relationship with them driven by our mutual focus on client service, industry best practice and innovation and I am delighted to bring them fully into CBRE.”

Gaetan Clermont, CBRE's CEO, Belgium and Luxembourg, added: “To maximize the value of their real estate investments, our clients are increasingly seeking expert property management services aligned with high quality investment, leasing and asset management advice. Fully integrating Sogesmaint-CBRE into our Belgian business enables us to further enhance our service offering for the benefit of our extensive domestic and international client base.”

Micheline De Munck, Sogesmaint-CBRE's CEO agreed.

“We are thrilled to be fully joining up with CBRE. Our original relationship afforded us access to the group's substantial global platform, formidable client base and strength across all property sectors,” De Munk said. “This move will reinforce and increase our own clients' access to this unique network and enable us to enhance the services we offer them. We look forward to further building on the successes of the past few years and further growing our offer to clients within CBRE's strong Property and Asset Management team to consolidate our leading position in Belgium.”