CBRE today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 49 percent interest in Malaysia’s leading real estate services provider, C H Williams Talhar & Wong Sdn Bhd, WTW Real Estate Sdn Bhd and WTW Property Services Sdn Bhd (“WTW”). The business will rebrand as CBRE | WTW and be led by Mr Foo Gee Jen and Mr Danny SK Yeo, the current leaders of WTW and highly respected real estate professionals in Malaysia. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2016

Founded in 1960, WTW is a well-established, highly-regarded, full-service real estate firm in Malaysia. It provides valuation, market research, consultancy, estate agency, project marketing, corporate real estate and property management services from its 13 offices in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Malacca, Ipoh, Alor Setar, Kota Bahru, Butterworth, Batu Pahat, Kuala Terengganu and Seremban.

Steve Swerdlow, CEO CBRE Asia Pacific, said “CBRE | WTW, alongside our existing occupier outsourcing business in Malaysia, will provide a deep, broad platform that provides clients with access to a comprehensive suite of market-leading real estate services. CBRE | WTW creates powerful advantages for clients of both firms, combining WTW’s valuation, agency and capital markets expertise with CBRE’s full service offering.”

CBRE’s occupier outsourcing business - called Global Workplace Solutions - serves a blue-chip list of occupiers across a wide range of industries, particularly financial services, healthcare, industrial/manufacturing, life sciences, technology and telecommunications. CBRE manages a market-leading 5.2 billion square feet of commercial property and corporate facilities across the globe.

Mohd Talhar Abdul Rahman, Non-Executive Chairman, C H Williams Talhar & Wong said, “WTW’s long-standing success over the last 55 years is a testament to the trust and support of our clients and to the dedication and commitment of our people in serving and fulfilling that trust. We are confident that CBRE is the right strategic partner whose scale and reach globally can help our clients expand their activities beyond our shores more fruitfully, and can help bring greater meaningful inbound investment into the Malaysian real estate market.”

Malaysia - like the rest of South East Asia - is well positioned to benefit from the well-directed increase in economic and investment activities that are expected from the liberalisation of capital inflows into the Asean Economic Community (AEC). This expectation is based on the region’s prospects for long-range growth potential and its correspondingly higher investment appeal. The Malaysian Economic Transformation Programme (METP), which is expected to generate US$400 billion in investments by 2020, will help to catalyze that growth for Malaysia.