CBRE has agreed to acquire London-based data-center infrastructure specialist Onnec Group in a deal worth up to £760 million, extending the global property-services group further into the technical delivery of hyperscale and AI infrastructure.
The transaction comprises an initial £460 million cash payment and a multi-year earn-out of up to £300 million linked to Onnec meeting specified growth thresholds. A definitive agreement has been signed, but ownership has not yet transferred: the acquisition remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and CBRE expects completion around the end of 2026.
For the construction market, the significance lies beyond the corporate transaction itself. Onnec works inside the technical layer of data-centre delivery, covering structured cabling, fibre infrastructure, rack installation, containment, project management and operational support, packages that turn completed data-centre space into functioning digital infrastructure.
Specialist structured cabling and fibre infrastructure forms part of the technical fit-out required to turn data-centre space into operational digital infrastructure. Image: London Construction Magazine.
KEY TAKEAWAY: CBRE is moving deeper into the physical delivery of data centres. The proposed Onnec acquisition adds specialist fibre, cabling, rack and white-space infrastructure capability across the UK, continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.
£460m Upfront With a Further £300m Earn-Out
According to CBRE's acquisition announcement, the financial structure is:
| Deal Element | Position |
|---|---|
| Initial purchase price | £460m cash |
| Potential earn-out | Up to £300m |
| Maximum potential consideration | £760m |
| Transaction stage | Definitive agreement signed; regulatory approvals pending |
| Expected completion | Around the end of 2026 |
CBRE also expects Onnec to generate approximately £370 million of revenue and more than £50 million of core EBITDA in 2027. Those figures are management forecasts rather than historic results and are dependent on future trading performance.
Onnec employs approximately 800 people and serves hyperscale customers across the UK, continental Europe and Asia-Pacific. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in London, the business specialises in the design, deployment and maintenance of network, fibre and data-centre infrastructure.
Onnec Sits Inside the Technical Data Centre Fit-Out
The construction relevance becomes clearer when Onnec's delivery scope is separated from conventional data-centre shell and core works. Its data-centre services include cabling design, copper and fibre installation, rack-and-stack work, cabling containment, hot and cold aisle containment, off-site pre-staging, project management and ongoing technical support.
Onnec's Nordic operation describes structured cabling as the infrastructure that helps turn grey space into an operational data centre. Tenant white-space fit-outs can then include cabinets, containment, rack-and-stack installation and copper and fibre patching before live operational support begins.
That places the business downstream of much of the civils, structural and primary MEP construction programme, but directly in the critical path between a completed technical building and usable compute capacity. On high-density AI projects, network architecture and physical fibre infrastructure have to be coordinated with racks, power distribution, cooling systems and commissioning rather than treated as a late-stage technology add-on.
This fits the wider pattern already visible across UK data-centre construction, where specialist electrical, mechanical and commissioning capability increasingly carries as much programme exposure as the building shell itself.
CBRE Is Building a Wider Infrastructure Services Business
CBRE has been explicit about the strategy behind the transaction. Chief Operating Officer Vikram Kohli said the group is building a global infrastructure-services business alongside its established real-estate services operation.
Onnec is expected to become part of CBRE's Critical Infrastructure Services business, which CBRE forecasts will generate nearly $4.5 billion of revenue in 2027 including the acquired company. Its Project Management and Advisory Services operations are forecast to add almost another $2.5 billion of infrastructure-services revenue, taking the group's estimated total close to $7 billion.
The move follows CBRE's 2024 acquisition of US-based Direct Line Global, another specialist in technical data-centre infrastructure. At the time, CBRE said Direct Line added server-support infrastructure capability to a business that had previously concentrated more heavily on facilities management.
CBRE then acquired Pearce Services in 2025, adding design engineering, maintenance and repair capability across critical power and cooling, renewable generation, wireless infrastructure and fibre networks.
Onnec extends that strategy geographically. Its established European and Asia-Pacific operations give CBRE technical delivery capacity outside the US in markets where hyperscale investment is driving larger and more complex data-centre programmes.
The acquisition also comes as electricity capacity becomes one of the main constraints on UK data-centre delivery. London Construction Magazine has recently examined how grid delays are affecting live commercial decisions, including Microsoft's withdrawal from Nscale's planned Loughton facility, and how connection programmes are increasingly influencing procurement, MEP sequencing and commissioning.
That pressure does not reduce the need for specialist fit-out capability. Where new-build programmes are delayed, expansion, retrofit and technical upgrades within existing facilities can become more important, particularly as operators adapt data halls for denser AI and high-performance computing equipment.
The immediate next step is regulatory approval of the Onnec transaction. Until completion, Onnec remains outside CBRE ownership; if the deal closes on the expected timetable, the business will become part of CBRE's Critical Infrastructure Services operation around the end of 2026.
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