CBRE to Buy London’s Onnec for £460m to Grow Data-Centre Services Abroad

CBRE, the world’s largest commercial property services firm by its own measure, has agreed to buy Onnec, a London-based company that builds and maintains data-centre infrastructure for big technology firms. “The initial purchase price is £460 million (approximately $610 million) in cash,” CBRE said in a release on 20 October 2026.

On top of that, the two sides “have agreed to a multi-year earnout of up to £300 million (approximately $400 million), subject to Onnec meeting certain growth thresholds”. The deal shows how property groups are pushing deeper into the technical work behind the data-centre boom, and how much they will pay for firms that serve hyperscalers, the largest cloud and AI companies.

What does Onnec do?

“Founded in 1986 and based in London,” Onnec specialises in “the design, deployment and maintenance of network, fiber and data center infrastructure”, according to CBRE. Its roughly 800 employees serve hyperscalers in the UK, continental Europe and Asia Pacific.

CBRE says Onnec is expected to generate “approximately £370 million ($498 million) in revenue and more than £50 million ($67 million) of core EBITDA in 2027”. Core EBITDA is CBRE’s adjusted profit measure. It also expects the deal to be “immediately accretive” to its core earnings per share, meaning it should add to profit per share from the start.

Why does CBRE want it?

Onnec will join CBRE’s Critical Infrastructure Services business, which CBRE expects to generate “nearly $4.5 billion of total revenue in 2027, including contributions from Onnec”. Other CBRE units, mainly project management and advisory, are expected to add “almost $2.5 billion” of infrastructure services revenue, for a total of “nearly $7.0 billion” in 2027.

Those figures exclude revenue from occasional data-centre land sales in CBRE’s development business, the release says. CBRE says Onnec’s geographic presence “aligns well” with the data-centre infrastructure services it already provides in the US.

“CBRE is pursuing an explicit strategy to build a global infrastructure services business to complement our real estate services business,” said Vikram Kohli, CBRE’s chief operating officer. He said the deal fits an effort “to build resilient businesses that benefit from secular tailwinds”, meaning long-term growth trends.

CBRE, headquartered in Dallas, has more than 155,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries, according to the release. It lists critical infrastructure within its Building Operations & Experience segment, alongside facilities and property management.

Barry Horgan, Onnec’s chairman, said that as part of CBRE the company would gain “the platform and expertise to broaden our capabilities”.

What happens next?

The transaction “is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed around the end of the year”, CBRE said.

J.P. Morgan is advising CBRE, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as legal adviser. Goldman Sachs International and Freshfields are advising Onnec.

Our read

This is TSN’s analysis. Data-centre construction is creating demand not just for buildings and power but for the specialists who fit out and run them, and consolidation is following, as in the recent 3C and Datalec merger. CBRE’s structure is cautious: up to £300m of the value only arrives if Onnec keeps growing. That makes the earnout a bet on hyperscaler spending staying strong for years.

Sources

1. CBRE: “CBRE Expands Critical Infrastructure Capabilities in Europe and Asia Pacific with Onnec Acquisition” (20 October 2026)
2. Business Wire: “CBRE Expands Critical Infrastructure Capabilities in Europe and Asia Pacific with Onnec Acquisition” (20 October 2026)

Related stories

• 3C and Datalec Merge to Form 3C Datalec, a Liquid-Cooling and Data-Centre Services Group