UNITED KINGDOM; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA —Commercial real estate services firm CBRE Group has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase London-headquartered data center connectivity provider Onnec Group Limited. The initial cash transaction is valued at £460 million, alongside a multi-year earnout of up to £300 million contingent upon achieving specific growth metrics. The transaction is projected to close around the end of the year, subject to standard regulatory approvals.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, CBRE Group is a Fortune 500 enterprise providing commercial real estate and investment services globally across advisory, building operations, project management, and asset investment segments. The acquired entity, founded in 1986, specializes in designing, deploying, and maintaining network, fiber, and data center infrastructure for major technology enterprises across the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
The transaction strengthens CBRE's Critical Infrastructure Services division, which anticipates generating nearly $4.5 billion in revenue by 2027. Onnec is forecasted to contribute roughly £370 million in revenue and in excess of £50 million in core EBITDA during the same fiscal year, delivering an immediate positive impact on CBRE's core earnings per share. This strategic alignment broadens the parent company's service delivery capabilities outside the United States, positioning it to capture long-term demand drivers within the digital infrastructure sector.
The deal directly affects the global technology, telecommunications, and digital infrastructure markets by consolidating specialized engineering capabilities under a broader corporate umbrella. Hyperscalers and large enterprises relying on resilient connectivity will experience integrated service delivery across international borders. Furthermore, the transaction impacts regional labor markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific, where approximately 800 personnel from the acquired firm will transition into an expanded operational framework.
For corporate strategists and investors, the acquisition reflects an ongoing industry trend toward scaling technical services to match secular growth in cloud computing and data storage requirements. By integrating specialized network deployment capabilities with established commercial real estate management, corporate stakeholders can streamline vendor relationships for large-scale digital deployments. The inclusion of performance-based earnouts also demonstrates a structured approach to managing valuation risk in high-growth technological sectors.
