UGL Limited (ASX: UGL) today announced that its property services business, comprised of UGL Services (including the Unicco, Equis and Premas operations) and DTZ, will be united under a single global brand.
Since 5 December 2011, when UGL acquired the trading operations of global real estate services company DTZ Holdings plc, the two companies have co‐branded as UGL Services and DTZ. The acquisition of DTZ has transformed UGL’s property services business into one of the world’s largest, integrated end‐to‐end providers of property services, operating across all key geographic regions with annual revenue of $2.0 billion.
UGL’s Managing Director & CEO, Richard Leupen said: “The new single brand represents a key milestone in the execution of our property services strategy and reflects the creation of a fully integrated, global company with a unique platform that is transforming the world of property services.
“Retaining the DTZ name acknowledges the brand equity of DTZ, an iconic brand in property services with a legacy extending back to 1784, and capitalises on the broad market recognition of the specialist capabilities of DTZ. By combining the DTZ name with UGL’s corporate identity, the new brand captures the endorsement of UGL’s financial strength and reflects the company’s leading expertise in integrated facilities management.”
The rebranding of UGL’s property services business will result in a one‐off charge during the 2013 financial year of approximately $37 million, representing the carrying value of the acquired heritage brands of Unicco, Equis and Premas, in addition to the costs associated with the implementation of a comprehensive global rebranding programme.
Mr Leupen said: “From today, our property services business will be recognised globally as DTZ. We move forward as a truly global, world‐leading business with 47,000 people worldwide, across 52 countries. We will continue to expand and invest in our business while focusing on providing innovative, best practice solutions for our clients, wherever they need us to be. Our unique platform is already generating strong momentum and we are excited about the significant opportunities for growth ahead of us.”
DTZ will continue to be headquartered in Los Angeles, US under the leadership of Robert Shibuya, Group President, Property.