By Powerscourt on 24/03/2022
Powerscourt’s real estate team advised TOG (The Office Group) and Fora on their proposed merger, announced in March 2022. The team worked alongside both companies as well as their majority shareholders, Blackstone and Brockton Capital, to provide strategic communications advice for both internal and external stakeholders.
TOG is a leading, design-led provider of flexible workspace, with over 50 buildings across the UK and Germany. It was founded in 2003 by co-founders and co-CEOs Charlie Green and Olly Olsen, fuelled by their desire to reimagine, shape and improve the way people work. Fora was founded in 2015 by Enrico Sanna and Katrina Larkin and has grown to include 20 locations with spaces spanning Central London from Brick Lane to Southwark, Soho to Clerkenwell.
A combined group would comprise 72 premier locations totalling 3.1 million sq. ft. across London and in Cambridge, Oxford, Reading, Bristol, Leeds, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Hamburg with plans to expand into other European cities. It aims to be the premier flexible workspace company in the UK and Europe, bringing together two highly complementary businesses with similar cultures, strategies and high quality, design-led workspaces.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the flexible market has experienced a strong rebound with a variety of organisations, including some of the world’s most prestigious businesses, embracing it. A merger would mean the enlarged group is best-placed to meet this demand, enhancing customer choice in what is a highly competitive and evolving market.
Justin Griffiths, Partner and Head of Real Estate, commented: “It’s a privilege to advise on what would certainly be one of the landmark transactions in the sector this year. Flexible working was once just the preserve of start-ups but now is very much top of the agenda for corporates of all sizes, in a trend only accelerated by the pandemic. It will be incredibly interesting to see how this trend plays out, with our client well-positioned to grow strongly both in the UK and mainland Europe.”
The merger is subject to regulatory approval.