Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. (CWK) Business
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1 Business text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
Item 1. Business.
Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, “Cushman & Wakefield,” “the Company,” “we,” “ours” and “us”) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm driven to solve complex problems for real estate occupiers and investors. Led by an experienced executive team, our approximately 53,000 employees in over 350 offices and nearly 60 countries provide exceptional problem-solving, advisory and execution across the built environment, and manage approximately 6.5 billion square feet of commercial real estate globally. Our business is focused on meeting the increasing demands of our clients through comprehensive global offerings including (i) Services, (ii) Leasing, (iii) Capital markets and (iv) Valuation and other services. In 2025, 2024 and 2023, we generated revenues of $10.3 billion, $9.4 billion and $9.5 billion, respectively.
Since 2014, we have built a company with the scale and global footprint to effectively serve our multinational and local clients’ needs. 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 outsourcing service provider by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.
We are a firm built around the belief 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 an integrated and 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 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 firms able to provide solutions to complex global mandates from large multinational occupiers and investors.
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 73%, 10% and 17% of our 2025 total revenue and 71%, 13% and 16% of our 2025 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 66%, 21%, 8% and 5% of our 2025 revenue, respectively, and 51%, 30%, 12% and 7% of our 2025 service line fee revenue, respectively.
By revenue, our largest country was the United States, representing 69%, 71% and 72% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, followed by Australia, representing 5% of revenue in each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Our Service Lines
Services. Our largest service line based on revenue includes property management, facilities management, facilities services and project management services. Revenues in this service line are generally recurring in nature, many through multi-year contracts with relatively high switching costs.
For real estate occupiers, we offer integrated facilities management, 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 investors, we offer a variety of property management services, which include client accounting, engineering and operations, lease administration, tenant experience and residential property management.
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In addition, we offer globally to both occupiers and investors (i) self-performed facilities services, which include janitorial, maintenance, critical environment management, landscaping and office services, (ii) project management, (iii) workplace consulting and (iv) 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 provide strategic advice and execution 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 equity, debt and structured financing supporting real estate purchases. Capital markets 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. This complexity, as well as improvements in several underlying macroeconomic factors, drove growth and continued resilience in many asset classes and service lines in 2025, as evidenced by revenue growth in each of our service lines compared to 2024. 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, occupiers and investors 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.
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 integrated platform. Occupiers and investors 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. Those few firms with scalable operating platforms are best positioned to improve their profitability and market share as real estate occupiers and investors become increasingly global and require commercial real estate services partners that can match their geographic reach and complex real estate needs.
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Demand for Higher Quality Assets. The commercial real estate market continues to experience a “flight-to-quality” trend across property sectors, in which occupiers gravitate towards newer, higher-grade buildings with top-tier amenities. Occupiers are demonstrating a stronger preference for premium assets, as demonstrated in recent years by a higher number of Class A office property leasing transactions in the United States. This shift toward higher-quality space reflects evolving corporate priorities related to building amenities, sustainability and operational efficiency, and may create opportunities for real estate service providers as clients seek to optimize workplace experiences.
Technology and Artificial Intelligence Driving Growth. Across industries, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and automation have begun to drive new investments and innovation. This growth has impacted demand for certain types of commercial real estate, especially data centers, as AI’s physical footprint and its need for power, cooling and connectivity is driving additional demand for these spaces.
Our Competitive Strengths
Our business is designed and built around the goal of providing strategic advice to our clients on how to use real assets to advance their corporate objectives. 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 invested in our people and technology and built an integrated global platform that provides quality advice and deep sector knowledge to our clients through an extensive network in nearly 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, data centers and life sciences.
Our Iconic Brand. The history of our 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 broader 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 14th consecutive year, we have been named as a leader in the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ top 100 outsourcing professional service firms. In addition, we have been recognized as a Top Ten Military Friendly® Employer for four consecutive years.
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 with a culture of continuous improvement 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 and to stay ahead of industry trends. In addition, we are focused on management development to drive strong operational performance and continuing innovation.
Technology to Improve Client Experience Through Data-Driven Insights. We invest in and leverage technology to empower our advisors, services and research professionals to support client outcomes with data-driven insights, AI-powered information and automation.
Significant Recurring Revenue Resilient to Changing Economic Conditions. In 2025, our Services business, which is recurring and contractual in nature, generated 66% of our total revenue. These revenue streams help provide greater stability to our cash flows and underlying business and are more resilient to changing and challenging economic conditions.
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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, established a culture of operating with discipline and increased the level of data we use to make decisions, focusing on profitability and driving long-term growth. We have a balanced portfolio of businesses, generating consistent cash flow and the Cushman & Wakefield brand is well known across the globe.
Our experienced management team is focused on accelerating revenue, enhancing earnings per share, continuing to reduce leverage and recruiting and retaining top talent. To support our vision, we plan to leverage the scale of our global platform and invest in advanced technologies to win new business, retain and expand existing client relationships while moving up the value chain and capture market share in high-growth asset classes, such as data centers. We aim to bring data-driven insights to clients, providing the most insightful and forward-thinking solutions.
In addition, we intend to continue investing in high-caliber talent, creating an environment where they can thrive and drive meaningful impact. By prioritizing our employees, we are building a high-performing company—one that is positioned to seize new opportunities, drive sustainable growth and set the standard for excellence in our industry.
Our approach to client relationships is 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. With a client-centric operating model, we align ourselves to our clients’ success.
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 geography or service, we face competition from other commercial real estate services providers, outsourcing companies, in-house corporate real estate departments, 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
On November 27, 2025, Cushman & Wakefield plc completed a court-approved scheme of arrangement in the U.K., pursuant to which a new Bermudan holding company, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. became the sole shareholder of Cushman & Wakefield plc and the parent company of the entire group of Cushman & Wakefield companies (the “Redomiciliation”). The Redomiciliation resulted in the Cushman & Wakefield group parent company changing its jurisdiction of incorporation from England and Wales to Bermuda. As the parent company, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. 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 on Form 10-K (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.
Occupier and Investor Clients
Our clients include a full range of real estate occupiers and investors, including tenants, investors and multinational companies in numerous markets, including office, industrial, logistics, multifamily, retail, data centers, life-sciences, healthcare, student housing, self-storage, land 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.
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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 revenue also flows through to net income and cash flow from operations.
Human Capital Resources and Management
We believe our success is built on a workforce that reflects a broad range of perspectives, skills and experiences. By recruiting, developing and retaining top talent throughout the organization, we strengthen our ability to deliver innovative solutions and create meaningful impact for clients and communities alike.
As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 53,000 employees worldwide – approximately 67% in the Americas, 10% in EMEA and 23% in APAC. Our employees include management, advisors and other sales staff, administrative specialists, valuation specialists, maintenance, landscaping and janitorial personnel, office staff and others. Approximately 7,000 (or 13%) of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, the substantial majority of whom are employed in facilities services. Costs related to approximately 45% of our employees are fully reimbursed by clients.
Culture and Opportunity
We are dedicated to recruiting, 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, growth and belonging, 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, online 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.
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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 and Sustainability
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 2025, as part of our commitment to science-based climate action, we updated and extended our 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 renewed targets are as follows:
•Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions across our corporate offices and operations by 73.12% by 2034 (from a 2019 base year);
•Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 66.33% per square foot of managed area for clients by 2034 (from a 2019 base year); and
•Achieve net zero for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 2050.
Each of these targets is strategically designed to maximize our ability to create sustainable value both for our clients and our business amidst continually shifting market trends and regulatory landscapes. These targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (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.
Additional information regarding our environmental practices and progress towards these targets can be found in our 2024 Sustainability Report, available on our website. The information contained on or accessible through our website, including our 2024 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.
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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 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 and licensing requirements applicable to, or maintain adequate insurance coverage for, our Company or service lines” within Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.
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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,” “seek,” “strives,” “predict,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipate,” “target,” “goal,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “shall” 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 risk 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 revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of events or circumstances, new information, future developments or otherwise after the date of this report, except as required by applicable securities laws.
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 common shares.