Cushman & Wakefield plc

Cushman & Wakefield plc (together with its subsidiaries,“Cushman & Wakefield,”“the Company,” “we,” “ours” and “us”) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm that makes a meaningful impact for our people, clients, communities and world. Led by an experienced executive team and driven by approximately 52,000 employees in nearly 400 offices and approximately 60 countries, we deliver exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners, managing approximately 6.0 billion square feet of commercial real estate space globally and offering a broad suite of services through our integrated and scalable platform. Our business is focused on meeting the increasing demands of our clients through comprehensive service offerings including (i) Services, (ii) Leasing, (iii) Capital markets and (iv) Valuation and other services. In 2024, 2023 and 2022, we generated revenues of $9.4 billion, $9.5 billion and $10.1 billion, respectively, and service line fee revenue of $6.6 billion, $6.5 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively.

Since 2014, we have built a company with the scale and global footprint to effectively serve our multinational and local clients’ needs. The result is a global real estate services firm with the iconic, more than 100-year-old, Cushman & Wakefield brand.

Our recent history has been a period of strategic transformation for our company. Our experienced management team is focused on improving financial performance and cash flows, reducing leverage, driving operating efficiencies and attracting and retaining top talent. Today, Cushman & Wakefield is one of the top three real estate services providers as measured by revenue and workforce. We have gained third-party recognition as a provider and employer of choice, having consistently been named in the top four in our industry’s leading brand study, the Lipsey Company’s Top 25 Commercial Real Estate Brands, and a leading global real estate services firm by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.

In 2024, we launched our new purpose and values, encapsulated by the theme that Better never settles. As an organization and as individuals, we will never settle for the world that’s been built, but relentlessly drive it forward for our clients, colleagues and communities. Our core values (Driven, Resilient, Inclusive, Visionary and Entrepreneurial) drive our business, create inspiration and help us provide value-added services to the built environment every day.

We have built a scalable platform that we believe is well positioned to support our growth strategy by focusing on providing effective problem solving through quality advice and execution, continuing to operate with rigor, investing in advanced technologies and innovative practices, and recruiting, developing and retaining top talent.

Our Principal Services and Regions of Operation

Our business is organized, and we report our operating results, through three geographic segments: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”); and Asia Pacific (“APAC”) representing 74%, 10% and 16% of our 2024 total revenue and 71%, 13% and 16% of our 2024 service line fee revenue, respectively. We operate the following service lines within each of our segments: (i) Services, (ii) Leasing, (iii) Capital markets and (iv) Valuation and other, representing 53%, 30%, 10% and 7% of our 2024 service line fee revenue, respectively.

Our Geographical Segments

Our global presence and integrated platform enable us to provide a broad base of services across geographies. This global footprint, complemented by a full suite of service offerings, positions us as one of a small number of providers able to respond to complex global mandates from large multinational occupiers and owners.

By revenue, our largest country was the United States, representing 71%, 72% and 74% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, followed by Australia, representing 5%, 5% and 4% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Our Service Lines

Effective January 1, 2024, the Property, facilities and project management service line was renamed to Services. The change was to the name only and had no impact on the composition of the Company’s service lines or its historical results.

Services. Our largest service line based on revenue includes property management, facilities management, facilities services and project and development services. Revenues in this service line are recurring in nature, many through multi-year contracts with relatively high switching costs.

For real estate occupiers, we offer integrated facilities management, project and development services, portfolio administration, transaction management and strategic consulting. These services are offered individually or through our global occupier services offering, which provides a comprehensive range of bundled services resulting in consistent quality of service and cost savings.

For real estate owners, we offer a variety of property management services, which include client accounting, engineering and operations, lease compliance administration, project and development services, tenant experience and residential property management.

In addition, we offer globally to both owners and occupiers (i) self-performed facilities services, which include janitorial, maintenance, critical environment management, landscaping and office services, (ii) workplace and portfolio consulting and (iii) sustainability services.

Fees in this service line are generally based on a fixed recurring fee or a variable fee, which may be based on hours incurred, a percentage mark-up on actual costs incurred or a percentage of monthly gross receipts. Additionally, this service line has a large component of revenue that consists of us contracting with third-party providers (engineers, landscapers, etc.) and then passing these expenses on to our clients.

Leasing. Our second largest service line based on revenue, Leasing, consists of two primary sub-services: owner representation and tenant representation. In owner representation leasing, we typically contract with a building owner on a multi-month or multi-year agreement to lease their available space. In tenant representation leasing, we are typically engaged by a tenant to identify and negotiate a lease for them in the form of a renewal, expansion or relocation or occasionally to enter into a sublease or lease termination if they desire space reduction. We have a higher degree of visibility into Leasing services fees due to contractual renewal dates, leading to renewal, expansion or new lease revenue. In addition, Leasing fees can be somewhat less cyclical as many tenants need to renew or lease space to operate even in difficult economic conditions.

Leasing fees are typically earned after a lease is signed and are calculated as a percentage of the total value of rent payable over the life of the lease.

Capital markets. We represent both buyers and sellers in real estate purchase and sale transactions, and we arrange financing supporting purchases. Our services include investment sales and equity, debt and structured financing. Fees generated are linked to transactional volume and velocity in the commercial real estate market.

Our Capital markets fees are transactional in nature and generally earned at the close of a transaction as a percentage of the total value of the transaction.

Valuation and other. We provide valuations and advice on real estate debt and equity decisions to clients through the following services: appraisal management, investment management, valuation advisory, portfolio advisory, diligence advisory, dispute analysis and litigation support, financial reporting and property and/or portfolio valuation.

Fees are earned on both a contractual and transactional basis and are generally fixed based on the scope of the engagement.

Industry Overview and Market Trends

We operate in an industry where the increasing complexity of our clients’ real estate operations drives demand for high quality services providers. The sector also continues to be fragmented among regional, local and boutique providers. In the past several years, our business was negatively impacted by inflation and increased volatility in interest rates, among other macroeconomic challenges, which led to ongoing volatility within global capital and credit markets. This has resulted in delays in certain real estate transaction decisions, but we believe it has also led to an increase in available capital ready to be deployed for real estate investments once market conditions become more favorable. Although borrowing costs remain elevated and transaction volumes have not fully stabilized, the commercial real estate industry overall showed signs of improvement in 2024. These macroeconomic trends and uncertainties are discussed further in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 and “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”). Key drivers of revenue growth for the largest commercial real estate services providers, including us, are expected to include:

Increased Complexity in the Built World. Real estate decisions and operations have become increasingly complex, as owners, investors and occupiers need to consider factors such as environmental concerns, flexible work arrangements, commuting patterns, demographics, supply chain considerations and, recently, a more volatile financing environment. Service providers with broader and more diverse offerings and areas of expertise can better meet customer needs in this evolving landscape.

Institutional Investors Owning a Greater Proportion of Global Real Estate. Institutional owners, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and other financial entities, have in recent years increased investment allocations into the real estate sector. Institutional owners self-perform property management services at a lower rate than private owners, outsourcing more to services providers, and have historically executed real estate transactions at a higher rate than private owners.

Owners and Occupiers Continue to Consolidate Their Real Estate Services Providers. Owners and occupiers continue to consolidate their services provider relationships on a regional, national and global basis to obtain more consistent execution across markets and to benefit from streamlined management oversight of “single point of contact” service delivery.

Global Services Providers Create Value in a Fragmented Industry. Clients are choosing to outsource commercial real estate services to global firms that can provide a fully developed platform of commercial real estate services. Global services providers with larger operating platforms can utilize economies of scale. Those few firms with scalable operating platforms are best positioned to improve their profitability and market share as real estate investors and occupiers become increasingly global and require commercial real estate services partners that can match their geographic reach and complex real estate needs.

Sustainability in Real Estate. Sustainability considerations are increasingly incorporated into both investor and occupier decisions. Real estate services providers continue to develop and maintain solutions to help clients meet stricter environmental regulations, operate more efficiently and achieve their own sustainability goals.

Our Competitive Strengths

Our business is designed and built around the goal of providing strategic advice to our clients on how they think about and use space. We believe we are well positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities and globalization trends in the commercial real estate services industry. We attribute our position to the following competitive strengths:

Global Size and Scale. We believe multinational clients prefer to partner with real estate services providers with the scale necessary to meet their needs across multiple geographies and service lines. Often, this scale is a prerequisite to compete for complex global service mandates. We have built a platform through investment in our people and technology to enable approximately 52,000 employees to offer our clients services through an extensive network of nearly 400 offices in approximately 60 countries. This scale provides operational leverage, translating revenue growth into increased profitability.

Solutions for a Complex and Evolving Built World. We offer our clients a fully integrated commercial real estate services experience across (i) Services, (ii) Leasing, (iii) Capital markets and (iv) Valuation and other services. These services can be bundled into regional, national and global contracts and/or delivered locally for individual assignments to meet the needs of a wide range of client types. We view each interaction with our clients as an opportunity to deliver an exceptional experience by offering a full platform of services, while deepening and strengthening our relationships. Our comprehensive service offerings extend across multiple asset types including office, retail, multifamily, logistics, healthcare and life sciences.

Our Iconic Brand. The history of our franchise and brand is one of the oldest and most respected in the industry. Our founding predecessor firm, DTZ, traces its history back to 1784 with the founding of Chessire Gibson in the U.K. Our brand, Cushman & Wakefield, was founded in 1917 in New York. Today, this pedigree, heritage and continuity continues to be recognized by our clients, employees and the industry. We are consistently named in the top four in our industry’s leading brand study, the Lipsey Company’s Top 25 Commercial Real Estate Brands. For the 13th consecutive year, we have been named as a leader in the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ top 100 outsourcing professional service firms. In addition, in 2024, we were recognized as one of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies of 2024 by TIME.

Significant Recurring Revenue Resilient to Changing Economic Conditions. In 2024, our Services business, which is recurring and contractual in nature, generated 67% of our total revenue and 53% of our service line fee revenue. These revenue streams help provide greater stability to our cash flows and underlying business and have proven to be resilient to changing and challenging economic conditions.

Highly Focused Team with a Bias to Action. For years, our people have earned a strong reputation by successfully executing the most iconic and complex real estate assignments in the world. Because of this legacy of excellence, and our leading platform and brand strength, we attract and retain top talent in the industry. We strive to build an engaged workforce and to support an environment where opportunity is accessible to all. We provide our employees with training and growth opportunities to support their ongoing success. In addition, we are focused on management development to drive strong operational performance and continuing innovation.

Our Growth Strategy

Our vision is to be recognized as the premier brand in the industry, setting the standard across the built environment by providing effective problem solving through quality advice and execution.

We have strengthened our core operations and will continue to operate with discipline, focusing on both organic and inorganic growth. From 2025 onwards, strategic allocation of capital towards these growth investments will be a priority. By identifying emerging opportunities and making strategic acquisitions, we aim to drive growth in the years ahead.

We believe our key differentiator is our extraordinary talent and their cognitive flexibility, which together form the collective expertise known as the “Cushman & Wakefield Brain.”

To support our vision, we plan to invest in advanced technologies and innovative practices. This includes leveraging data analytics to enhance decision-making processes, ensuring our clients will receive the most insightful and forward-thinking solutions. Furthermore, we aim to foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning, encouraging our team members to pursue professional development and stay ahead of industry trends.

Our approach to client relationships will be centered on collaboration and transparency. By building strong partnerships based on trust and mutual respect, we seek to ensure that our clients' needs are met with the highest level of service and professionalism.

Competition

We compete across various geographies, markets and service lines within the commercial real estate services industry. Each of the service lines in which we operate is highly competitive on a global, national, regional and local level. While we are one of the three largest global commercial real estate services firms as measured by revenue and workforce, our relative competitive position varies by geography and service line. Depending on the product or service, we face competition from other commercial real estate services providers, outsourcing companies, in-house corporate real estate departments, developers, institutional lenders, insurance companies, investment banking firms, investment managers, and accounting and consulting firms. Although many of our competitors across our larger service lines are smaller local or regional firms, they may have a stronger presence in certain markets. We are also subject to competition from other large national and multinational firms that have similar service competencies and geographic footprints to ours, including Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL), CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), Colliers International Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CIGI) and Newmark Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK).

Corporate Information

Cushman & Wakefield plc is a public limited company organized under the laws of England and Wales. On August 6, 2018, Cushman & Wakefield plc closed its initial public offering (“IPO”). As the parent company, Cushman & Wakefield plc does not conduct any operations other than with respect to its direct and indirect ownership of its subsidiaries.

Our corporate headquarters are located at 225 West Wacker Drive, Suite 3000, Chicago, Illinois 60606. Our website address is www.cushmanwakefield.com. The information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not part of or incorporated into this Annual Report. All reports required to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are available and can be accessed free of charge through the Investor Relations section of our website.

Owner and Occupier Clients

Our clients include a full range of real estate owners and occupiers, including tenants, investors and multinational companies in numerous markets, including office, retail, industrial, multifamily, student housing, hotels, data centers, healthcare, self-storage, land, condominium conversions, subdivisions and special use. Our clients vary greatly in size and complexity and include for-profit and non-profit entities, governmental entities and public and private companies.

Seasonality

The market for some of our products and services is seasonal, especially in the Leasing and Capital markets service lines. Generally, our industry is focused on completing transactions by calendar year-end, with a high concentration in the last quarter of the calendar year, while certain expenses are recognized more evenly throughout the calendar year. Historically, our revenue and operating income typically tend to be lowest in the first quarter and highest in the fourth quarter of each year. The Services business partially mitigates this intra-year seasonality due to the recurring nature of this service line, which comparatively generates more stable revenues throughout the year. The seasonality of service line fee revenue flows through to net income and cash flow from operations.

Human Capital Resources and Management

We strive to place our people at the center of everything we do. We seek to hire, develop and advance diverse talent throughout the organization. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 52,000 employees worldwide – approximately 69% in the Americas, 21% in APAC, and 10% in EMEA. Our employees include management, brokers and other sales staff, administrative specialists, valuation specialists, maintenance, landscaping and janitorial personnel, office staff and others. Approximately 7,500 (or 14%) of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, the substantial majority of whom are employed in facilities services. Costs related to approximately 44% of our employees are fully reimbursed by clients.

Culture and Opportunity

We are dedicated to attracting, developing and retaining the highest-caliber talent. We are committed to creating an environment where opportunity is accessible to all, and where everyone is valued, respected, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work and perform at their best. Our mission is to cultivate a culture that fosters a deep sense of belonging and engagement. By nurturing an environment of curiosity, continuous learning, and growth, we ensure that every individual has the opportunity to thrive and contribute meaningfully.

We believe that a thriving workforce drives innovation by offering fresh perspectives, inspiring creativity and enhancing problem-solving, which strengthens our ability to manage risks and deliver exceptional results for our employees, clients and partners. Ultimately, our commitment to an environment where opportunity is accessible to all is designed to create long-term value for our shareholders.

Learning and Development

We seek to develop a skilled workforce that operates with rigor and outperforms for our clients. To help in that objective, we strive to create a workplace that fosters career progression through a focus on the manager-employee relationship, continuous learning and development and equitable growth opportunities. Our global talent management team supports employees’ career growth through learning programs and professional development while equipping leaders to empower and grow their teams through talent assessment, succession planning and performance reviews. We offer a full suite of learning and development activities through on-the-job training, e-learning, mentoring and instructor-led learning modules.

Compensation Structure

We provide a total rewards program that combines competitive pay, including fixed and variable pay, and incentive opportunities. In addition, we offer a comprehensive benefits program to help encourage employee health and support their physical, emotional and financial well-being.

Across our (i) Services, (ii) Leasing, (iii) Capital markets and (iv) Valuation and other service lines our employees are compensated in different manners in line with common practices in their professional field and geographic region. Many of our real estate professionals in the Americas and in certain international markets work on a commission basis, particularly our Leasing and Capital markets professionals in the United States. Commissions are tied to the value of transactions and are subject to fluctuation. Leasing and Capital markets real estate professionals in EMEA and APAC work on a salary basis, with an additional performance bonus based on a share of the profits of their business unit. Even within our geographic segments, our service lines’ employee base includes a mix of professional and non-salaried employees.

Intellectual Property

We hold various trademarks and trade names worldwide, which include the “Cushman & Wakefield” and “DTZ” names. Although we believe our intellectual property plays a role in maintaining our competitive position in a number of the markets that we serve, we do not believe we would be materially adversely affected by expiration or termination of our trademarks or trade names or the loss of any of our other intellectual property rights other than the “Cushman & Wakefield” name. We primarily operate under the “Cushman & Wakefield” name and have generally adopted a strategy of having our acquisitions transition to the “Cushman & Wakefield” name. We own numerous domain names and have registered numerous trademarks and service marks globally. With respect to the Cushman & Wakefield name, we have processed and continuously maintain trademark registration for this trade name in most jurisdictions where we conduct business. We obtained our most recent U.S. trademark registrations for the Cushman & Wakefield name and logo in 2017, and these registrations would expire in 2027 if we failed to renew them.

Environment

Cushman & Wakefield strives to integrate climate considerations into our operations, business practices and service offerings. We understand the importance of managing environmental risks, developing sustainability opportunities, protecting and promoting value and driving meaningful change for our business and our clients. We aim to deliver our real estate services with high standards of environmental care and social responsibility, building on a collective strategy to develop a more resilient business, strengthen corporate reputation, reduce risk and drive long-term, sustainable value creation.

Our Environment Policy, available on our website, outlines our commitment to being a responsible steward of the environment. We include sustainability principles in our policies and practices as appropriate, engage employees in our collective efforts, and monitor and report our performance.

In alignment with our Environment Policy and ongoing sustainability efforts, in 2021 we set and publicly announced science-based targets for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions reductions across our value chain, in both our own offices and properties we manage on behalf of clients. These targets are as follows:

Target 1: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions across our corporate offices and operations 50% by 2030 (from a 2019 base year).

Target 2: Engage our clients, representing 70% of emissions at our managed properties (Scope 3), to set their own science-based targets by 2025.

Target 3: Reach net zero emissions across our entire value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2050.

In July 2021, Target 1 and Target 2 were validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (“SBTi”), a global body helping businesses to set emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. In June 2022, Target 3 was validated by SBTi.

These targets are voluntary, subject to change and should be considered aspirational. See “Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—We face risks related to climate change, including physical and transition risks, and with respect to other environmental conditions” within Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Furthermore, we are currently undergoing an evaluation to update our science-based targets to ensure they remain aligned with the latest climate science, which we expect to submit to SBTi for validation in the first half of 2025.

Additional information regarding our environmental practices and progress towards these targets can be found in our 2023 Sustainability Report, available on our website. The information contained on or accessible through our website, including our 2023 Sustainability Report, is not incorporated by reference herein or otherwise made a part of this Annual Report or any of our other filings with the SEC.

Regulation

The brokerage of real estate sales and leasing transactions, property and facilities management, project management, conducting real estate valuation and securing debt for clients, among other service lines, require that we comply with regulations and maintain licenses in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Some of our service lines are also subject to regulation and oversight by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “UK FCA”) or other foreign and state regulators or self-regulatory organizations. Like our competitors that operate various service lines in many jurisdictions, we are subject to numerous U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. laws and regulations.

Compliance failures or regulatory action could adversely affect our business. If we or our employees conduct regulated activities without a required license, or otherwise violate applicable laws and regulations, we could be required to pay fines, return commissions, have a license suspended or revoked, or be subject to other adverse action. Licensing requirements could also impact our ability to engage in certain types of transactions or businesses or affect the cost of conducting business.

While management has overseen highly regulated businesses before and we expect to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, no assurance can be given that it will always be the case. See “Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected by our failure to comply with existing and new laws, regulations or licensing requirements applicable to our Company or service lines” within Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this Annual Report may contain forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events, results and financial performance, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, and you can often identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seeks,” “strives,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “target,” “goal,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “shall,” “contemplates” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report are based upon our historical performance and on our current plans, estimates and expectations in light of information currently available to us. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, financial results, financial condition, business, prospects, growth strategy and liquidity. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and should consider the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A herein.

The factors identified in Part I, Item 1A herein should not be construed as an exhaustive list of factors that could affect our future results and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this Annual Report. The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report are made only as of the date of this Annual Report. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement except as required by law, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from what we may have expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should specifically consider the factors identified in this Annual Report that could cause actual results to differ before making an investment decision to purchase our ordinary shares.

Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict those events or how they may affect us.