CBRE agrees to buy Onnec for initial $610 million
Key Facts
CBRE announced a definitive agreement to acquire Onnec for an initial cash payment of £460 million, equivalent to about $610 million, to expand its critical infrastructure services. The agreement includes potential additional payments of up to £300 million, or about $400 million, according to the company's statement. Those additional payments are tied to Onnec meeting growth thresholds and would be paid over several years. The target company will operate within CBRE's Critical Infrastructure Services business following completion of the acquisition. The company said it expects the deal to be "immediately accretive" to core earnings per share.
CBRE expects Onnec to generate revenue of about £370 million in 2027, equivalent to $498 million, according to estimates in the acquisition announcement. It also expects core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to exceed £50 million, equivalent to $67 million. Onnec had separately announced the acquisition of GI Networks, a specialist in data center infrastructure services in Denmark. Onnec said the acquisition aims to strengthen its presence in the Nordic region, where the Danish company operates. The acquired company adds data center infrastructure management expertise to Onnec's managed services capabilities.
The agreement follows 68% year-on-year revenue growth in CBRE's Critical Infrastructure Services business in the second quarter of 2026. Growth was 66% in local currencies, according to the company's results filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cited growth in data center solutions among the drivers of the business's revenue expansion during the quarter. The business's revenue had risen 71% year on year in the first quarter, according to the earnings announcement for that period. In local currencies, Critical Infrastructure Services revenue grew 65% in the first quarter.
CBRE previously announced on November 4, 2025, the acquisition of Pearce Services, a specialist in technical services for digital and energy infrastructure. The announced initial consideration for that deal was about $1.2 billion in cash, according to the company's acquisition statement. Its terms also included potential additional payments of up to $115 million, alongside the initial payment. In an earlier expansion in data center services, CBRE also acquired Direct Line Global from private equity firm Guardian Capital. The company described the acquired business as a specialist in critical data center infrastructure serving leading global technology companies.
Onnec describes its business as providing integrated connectivity solutions for data centers, offices, fulfillment centers and other environments, extending its services beyond data centers. In North America's primary data center markets, supply capacity rose 33.7% year on year during the first half of 2026, according to a CBRE report. That capacity reached a record 10,903 megawatts in the markets covered by the report. In its global sector report, the company pointed to limited power availability and grid infrastructure constraints as factors affecting data center expansion. It said these constraints affect project development timelines and site selection.
On its financial outlook, CBRE raised its 2026 core earnings per share guidance range to $7.80–7.90 when it announced second-quarter results. The previous core earnings per share guidance range was $7.60–7.80, according to the same earnings announcement. Completion of the Onnec acquisition remains subject to customary regulatory approvals, under the terms announced by the company. CBRE expects to close the deal near the end of the current year, after which Onnec will join its critical infrastructure business. Before then, the company plans to announce its third-quarter 2026 results on October 22, 2026, at approximately 6:55 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time.