CW 2020 Annual Report

PART I

Item 1. Business Overview Cushman & Wakefield plc (together with its subsidiaries, “Cushman & Wakefield,” “ the Company ,” “we,” “ours” and “us” ) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm with an iconic brand and approximately 50,000 employees led by an experienced executive team. We operate from over 400 offices in 60 countries, managing over 4.1 billion square feet of commercial real estate space on behalf of institutional, corporate and private clients. We serve the world’s real estate owners and occupiers, delivering a broad suite of services through our integrated and scalable platform. Our business is focused on meeting the increasing demands of our clients through a comprehensive offering of services including Property, facilities and project management, Leasing, Capital markets, Valuation and other services. In 2020, 2019 and 2018, we generated revenues of $7.8 billion, $8.8 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively, and service line fee revenue of $5.5 billion, $6.4 billion and $6.0 billion, respectively. Since 2014, we have built our company organically and through the combination of DTZ, Cassidy Turley and Cushman & Wakefield, giving us the scale and global footprint to effectively serve our clients’ multinational businesses. The result is a global real estate services firm with the iconic Cushman & Wakefield brand, steeped in over 100 years of leadership. In 2020, 2019 and 2018, we were named #2 in our industry’s top brand study, the Lipsey Company’s Top 25 Commercial Real Estate Brands. Our recent history has been a period of rapid growth and transformation for our company. Our experienced management team has been focused on integrating companies, driving operating efficiencies, realizing cost savings, attracting and retaining talent and improving financial performance. In August 2018, Cushman & Wakefield successfully completed an initial public offering (the "IPO"), listing the firm on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CWK). Today, Cushman & Wakefield is one of the top three real estate services providers as measured by revenue and workforce. We have made significant investments in technology and workflows to support our growth strategy to improve our productivity and drive better outcomes for our clients. We have built a scalable platform that is well positioned to execute our growth strategy focused on: (i) participating in further industry consolidation; (ii) meeting the growing outsourcing and service needs of our target customer base; and (iii) leveraging our strong competitive position to increase our market share. Our proven track record of strong operational and financial performance leaves us well-positioned to capitalize on the attractive and growing commercial real estate services industry. Our Principal Services and Regions of Operation We have organized our business, and report our operating results, through three geographic segments: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA"); and Asia Pacific ("APAC") representing 73%, 12% and 15% of our 2020 revenue and 69%, 16% and 15% of our 2020 service line fee revenue, respectively. Within those segments, we operate the following service lines: Property, facilities and project management; Leasing; Capital markets; and Valuation and other, representing 54%, 23%, 14% and 9% of our 2020 service line fee revenue, respectively. Our Geographical Segments Our global presence and integrated platform enables us to provide a broad base of services across geographies. We hold leading positions in all of our key markets. This global footprint, complemented with a full suite of service offerings, positions us as one of a small number of providers able to respond to complex global mandates from large multinational occupiers and owners. By revenue, our largest country was the United States, representing 69%, 67% and 66% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, followed by Australia, representing 6%, 6% and 7% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Our Service Lines Property, Facilities and Project Management . Our largest service line includes property management, facilities management, facilities services and project and development services. Revenues in this service line are recurring in nature, many through multi-year contracts with relatively high switching costs.

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