Guardian Capital Partners Exits Portfolio Company, Direct Line Global, to CBRE Group, Inc.

Guardian Capital Partners (“Guardian”) is pleased to announce the sale of its portfolio company, Direct Line Global (“Direct Line” or the “Company”) to CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) (“CBRE”), the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Direct Line, based in Fremont, CA, is a leading technology infrastructure services provider enabling mission-critical data centers for the world's largest technology leaders. Direct Line has over 1,000 skilled technicians to deliver data center services across the US and Asia Pacific markets. The Company successfully deploys next-generation infrastructure technologies, including artificial intelligence platforms, across the data center lifecycle – design and planning, installation and post-build maintenance, and technology upgrades and retrofits. For more information, visit https://dl-global.com/.

Bill Nelligan, CEO of Direct Line, said, “The Company has achieved significant and diversified growth in a demanding data center market. Guardian’s partnership was instrumental in fostering our evolution of the business and we look forward to continuing this growth under CBRE’s ownership.”

Scott Evans, Founding Partner at Guardian, stated, “During Guardian’s ownership, the Company invested to scale its platform, including operations and delivery, data center services offerings, geographic market expansion, and partnership with blue-chip customers. The Company is well positioned to meet the increasing demand for data center services. I am proud of the exceptional performance of the management team and look forward to seeing the Company’s future success under the ownership of CBRE.”

The law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP advised Guardian and the Company, and Lincoln International LLC acted as Direct Line’s exclusive financial advisor. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP provided legal advice for CBRE. For more information about the transaction, contact Scott Evans at Guardian Capital Partners at sevans@guardiancp.com.

About Guardian Capital Partners

Guardian Capital Partners (“Guardian”) is an operationally focused private equity firm based in suburban Philadelphia. Guardian makes control investments in lower middle market consumer, niche manufacturing, and specialty business services companies. Guardian partners with management teams to provide equity capital to fuel the growth of privately held businesses. Guardian believes the private equity experience and complementary skill sets of the Guardian team provide a unique combination of operating and finance capabilities resulting in certainty of execution and meaningful long-term value creation for its portfolio companies. For more information about Guardian Capital Partners, visit www.guardiancp.com.

About CBRE

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue). The company has more than 130,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. For more information, please visit www.cbre.com.

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