Altus Group doubles its UK Business Rates practice through acquisition of CVS

The acquisition has a number of key benefits for Altus Group, including:

• Significantly expands the Company’s market share in the UK and positions Altus Group as the country’s leading business rates advisor based on volume of appeals filed;

• Adds further strength to the Company’s business rates expertise with the addition of approximately 230 professionals based in London, Manchester and Bristol, bringing the UK practice to over 400 people;

• Positions Altus Group for further growth in the UK market, and especially for the new five-year business rates cycle following the 2017 revaluation; and

• Adds further scale to and complements Altus Group’s data on comparable property information, giving the Company a greater competitive advantage to better serve clients in business rates appeals and lease negotiations.

“The acquisition of CVS clearly underlines our ambition to grow our business in the UK, a market which we believe is extremely important and strategic to our growth. Bringing CVS under the Altus Group brand more than doubles our business rates practice in the UK, while significantly broadening our scale, talent resources and market share in the country,” said Robert Courteau, Chief Executive Officer of Altus Group. “It positions us well to capitalize on the growth opportunity presented by the rates revaluation that took place earlier this year and the new five-year revaluation cycle that commenced with it. The combination of our comprehensive data on joint property information will also better position us to serve our clients in appeals and lease negotiations while supporting our ongoing initiatives to modernize our offerings with data and technology.”

Operating for over 17 years, CVS has gained substantial market share in the UK property market and is widely recognized as the largest provider of business rates advisory services based on the volume of appeals. It specializes in tax representation for all types of commercial properties including office, retail and industrial bulk classes. CVS’s primary services include business rates reduction (reducing property taxes for businesses and other organizations that occupy commercial premises). CVS’s team of approximately 230 professionals will form part of the Company’s UK Property Tax division, strengthening its business rates expertise.

“Altus Group’s well regarded market position and CVS’s large and diverse client base are highly complementary. This combination will significantly strengthen our value proposition for clients, while providing a strong platform that will allow us to grow further,” commented Alex Probyn, president of the UK business rates division at Altus Group.

The cost of this acquisition was £36.3 million (approximately C$61.8 million). Altus Group paid a total of £30.3 million (approximately C$51.6 million) in cash on closing with an additional £6.0 million (approximately C$10.2 million) payable two years after closing, subject to certain conditions being met. On closing, £25.3 million (approximately C$43.1 million) was from cash on hand and £5.0 (approximately C$8.5 million) was drawn from the revolving term facility. The acquisition is expected to be financially accretive over the course of the new revaluation cycle.