The Great Room has five locations in Singapore, including Ngee Ann City (pictured)
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) – Coworking operator The Great Room has been acquired by US flexible workspace provider Industrious as part of its international expansion. On May 9, the New York-based company announced the acquisition of The Great Room and European coworking provider Welkin & Meraki.
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According to a source cited by BloombergIndustrious paid approximately US$100 million ($139 million) in cash and stock for the two companies. The deal immediately expands Industrious’ portfolio by over 350,000 square feet in six new markets in Asia and Europe, as well as a 600,000 square foot pipeline of new deals in key cities in both regions.
Winter garden in The Great Room Afro-Asia
The Great Room’s portfolio covers around 16,000 square metres across seven locations, including five in Singapore at One George Street, Centennial Tower, Ngee Ann City, Raffles Arcade and Afro-Asia. The remaining two locations are in Hong Kong and Bangkok respectively. Welkin & Meraki operates five flexible workspaces in Paris, Eindhoven and Brussels.
Both The Great Room and Welkin & Meraki will continue to operate under their respective brand names.
“We are thrilled to welcome The Great Room and Welkin & Meraki into the Industrious ecosystem, especially given our shared intent to provide high-quality, flexible workspaces,” said Jamie Hodari, CEO and co-founder of Industrious, in a press release. “We look forward to expanding our offerings on a global scale to better support work-from-anywhere models while staying true to our commitment to the highest customer satisfaction in the industry.”
Hodari: We look forward to expanding our offering worldwide to better support location-independent work models (Photo: Industrious)
Jaelle Ang, CEO and co-founder of The Great Room, believes the acquisition will strengthen the group’s positioning as it now grows in terms of size and network. Following the transaction, Industrious now has around 450,000 square metres of flexible workspaces worldwide. Members of The Great Room and Welkin & Meraki can access workspaces at Industrious’ locations and vice versa. “I think there are immediate cross-selling and revenue synergies, as well as a stronger value proposition for members,” she says in an interview with EdgeProp Singapore.
Ang will remain CEO of The Great Room and report to Hodari. She points out that the deal will better position The Great Room for growth in the flexible workspace segment, which she predicts will grow to around 30% of total commercial space globally over the next decade, up from 3% currently.
Ang points out that The Great Room and Industrious share the same values of a human-centered design approach, warm service, and meeting members’ current and future needs. She also stresses that the partnership will allow the company to leverage Industrious’ best practices. “I think there’s a lot to learn because they’ve been in the business for a lot longer,” she comments.
Ang: I think there is immediate cross-selling and revenue synergies possible (with the acquisition) as well as a stronger value proposition for members (Photo: The Great Room)
Industrious’ primary market is the United States, where the company operates over 150 locations in more than 50 cities. The company’s portfolio has grown rapidly since the start of the pandemic, adding around one million square feet of space to the portfolio in 2020 and over 1.1 million square feet of space in 2021.
Last February, Industrious reached a new milestone when CBRE Group invested $200 million in the company, acquiring a 35% stake, later increased to 40%, cementing its position as majority owner. Hana, CBRE’s flexible space solutions company, was also integrated into Industrious, expanding the company’s portfolio in the US and marking the company’s expansion in the UK with offices in London and Manchester.
Industrious operates over 150 flexible workspace locations across the US, including the Industrious Fulton Market in Chicago (pictured) (Photo: The Great Room)
Looking ahead, the group plans to double its international presence by the end of the year, with the Asia Pacific (APAC) region playing a significant role in this, Ang notes. “There is a very strong commitment to grow across APAC,” she says, noting that expansion will be driven by both organic growth and M&A activity.
For The Great Room, Ang says the company recently signed a deal for a sixth location in Singapore, in the Eu Yan Sang Building on North Bridge Road. The new location, measuring over 1,858 sqm, is scheduled to open in January 2023.
In addition, The Great Room is negotiating further contracts to expand in its current markets and plans to enter new markets. Immediate priorities include Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai.
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