Colliers International

Colliers International entered 2020 as a global real estate services firm generating approximately $3.0 billion in annual revenue (FY2020 annual report). Like its larger peers CBRE and JLL, Colliers earned the majority of its revenue from transactional activities — leasing commissions, capital markets brokerage fees, and project management — that are inherently cyclical and tied to commercial real estate transaction volumes. When interest rates rise or economic uncertainty increases, transaction volumes fall and revenue declines. This cyclicality had long been a structural weakness of the CRE services model, causing earnings volatility that depressed valuation multiples relative to asset-light businesses with recurring revenue. Colliers's challenge was to shift its revenue mix toward higher-quality recurring streams that would reduce cyclicality and support a higher earnings multiple.

Colliers executed a multi-year strategy to build a diversified, capital-light services platform with growing recurring revenue, anchored by investment management:

• Investment management platform expansion: Colliers built and acquired investment management capabilities to create a fee-based AUM business. By year-end FY2024, assets under management reached $98.9 billion, up from approximately $40 billion at year-end 2020. Investment Management revenues reached $512.6 million in FY2024 with adjusted EBITDA of $213.7 million. The segment raised $3.8 billion in new capital commitments during FY2024 (Colliers Q4 FY2024 earnings release, February 2025).
• Engineering and project management acquisitions: Colliers acquired engineering and consulting businesses to build a recurring-revenue services segment that is not tied to real estate transaction cycles. These businesses provide ongoing project management, design, and consulting services under multi-year contracts.
• Outsourcing and advisory services growth: The company grew its outsourcing business — property management, facility management, and corporate real estate advisory — which generates recurring management fees rather than one-time transaction commissions.
• Recurring revenue target: Colliers targeted having over 70% of its adjusted EBITDA derived from recurring service lines (investment management, engineering, outsourcing), reducing dependence on transactional brokerage revenue. By FY2024, the company reported that recurring services represented over 70% of earnings (Colliers Q4 FY2024 earnings release; Colliers investor presentations).