China's Fosun International eyes up Cushman & Wakefield

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is reportedly mulling a bid to acquire property consultancy group Cushman & Wakefield.

According to Bloomberg News, the privately owned Chinese titan, Fosun, is throwing its hat into the list of several potential suitors who are interested in Cushman in a deal which could be worth around $2bn.

Shanghai-based Fosun owns businesses and investments across industrial, asset management, insurance and real estate sectors. Buying Cuhsman will give Fosun valuable property industry expertise, helping it manage its global property investments and explore new deals. Cushman competes directly with US peers CBRE Group and Jones Lang LaSalle.

Bloomberg reported that the process to acquire Cushman is at an early stage and any deal would be several months away, citing one of the people familiar with the matter. Italy's Agnelli family, which owns 81% of Cushman through holding company Exor, has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for Cushman.