Often we hear of mergers, but what happens when companies separate existing sites? In this episode, your host Sabine Ehm is joined by Steven Bell to learn about corporate carve-out strategy in real estate for a newly independent company.

Our carve-out strategy expert guest

Steven Bell is the Head of Real Estate at Wella, based in Geneva. He has over a decade of corporate real estate experience. He previously worked for Swarovski in Zurich, as well as SGS Group in Madrid. Steven is originally from Scotland, where he studied economics. 

Wella has a broad real estate portfolio. They have office spaces, manufacturing plants, R&D centers, and educational studios. Until December 2020, the company was a part of the Coty group. Steven has since been giving his full attention to managing a smooth separation. Listen to the next few clips to learn more about his process. 

Carve-out real estate challenges

“We had to separate existing sites, from a legal perspective as well as physical. Physically separating the workspace is important [as] people [must] have a sense of the company they’re working for.” – Steven Bell

As of December 1st, 2020, Wella officially left the Coty Group. The two companies shared many of their offices with other Coty conglomerates. Consequently, this needed immediate attention. In this clip, Steven speaks to the impact this move had on the real estate front. Many sites had to be divided, both legally and physically. The difficulty of this process depended on the site. The majority of buildings were emancipated, but some offices were relocated to new facilities. This meant creating completely new workspaces. 

Long-term and short-term carve-out management

Steven’s short-term CRE plan revolves around this issue. Long-term, he is working to lower the desk sharing ratio. Initially, he will lower it to 70%, as this is within reach. He also plans to create more flexible working spaces for the company. The benefits will be measured both in terms of financial return and sustainability. 

“You can see the financial benefits of doing [training] online, however, we need to keep the professional stylists happy, interested, and using our training centers.” – Steven Bell

Leaving Coty has been a major investment. Only 6-months into the project, all eyes are on cost. Therefore, an important aspect of Steven’s work is maximizing efficiencies from a financial standpoint. In this clip, he speaks to their education centers. “They need to feel like the new Wella.”

Carve-out portfolio management after Covid

Training programs were moved online when Covid hit. From a cost perspective, you can see the benefits of doing online training as you don’t have to provide the physical space. However, keeping a foothold in the industry is key, so Steven is focused on bettering the education system. He has been working closely with the VP of Education to create new success measures. 

“It’s the communication of the process. We’re not cutting 30% of the desks away and it’s a free-for-all. There are going to be neighborhoods within the building; there are going to be hot desks and fixed places for certain departments.” – Steven Bell

Return-to-work is a hot topic in CRE. Hence, companies are experimenting, among other things, with carve-out management methods. Steven suggests that within Wella, there’s interest in using software that shows desk usage. He defines the overall goal as reducing desk space. Some departments may still require assigned seating, but others will need more flexible collaboration spaces. 

Steven wants employees to feel secure when going into the office. “There’s a fear around hot-desking”. This fear comes from desk availability. As well, with all the Covid regulations in place, it is hard to predict just how many people want to go in. Sabine mentions how Locatee recently reopened its office space. Looking at only a week of data back then, it didn’t look like there was much interest.

Conclusion for corporate carve-out strategy

When a company separates existing sites, many issues arise. Steven’s goal is to make sure employees feel a part of the newly independent company after a corporate carve-out. The move has been a huge investment, and the measures of success have been purely financial. However, Steven has been working with the educational sector to ensure that industry professionals are happy with their services. We’ll see how the return-to-office plays out in the newly-formed spaces. 

Listen to this (episode No. 22) and other podcast episodes.

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