Equiem acquires SpaceOS as tenant demand grows for 'flex' space

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Australian firm Equiem, which offers tenant services for office buildings, said Wednesday it acquired SpaceOS, a European company for workplace management software, in a deal that adds Hitachi as a partner and strong German backing at a time remote work has made it more complicated to manage office space.

The deal, whose terms were not announced, will provide capital for further acquisitions and the integration of Dublin- and Warsaw-based SpaceOS to Equiem's tenant experience-focused platform.

The acquisition expands Equiem's footprint beyond North America, Britain and Ireland to more than 25 countries and allows the company to better serve the hybrid workplace as landlords face increasing tenant demand for flexible leases.

Equiem also gains SpaceOS's partnership with the Munich-based venture capital arm of Hitachi, along with German investors BeyondBuild, MOMENI Ventures, Caleus and others that have focused on digital and real estate technology.

"Landlords really need to provide services now well beyond just the four walls and windows," said Gabrielle McMillan, chief executive of Equiem.

"They've been talking about this for years, but it's happening right now, and it can only be done with the right technology toolkit and that technology toolkit has to hit a lot of different buttons," McMillan told Reuters.

The deal will allow Equiem to better serve operators of "flex" space, a fast-growing leasing concept to meet tenant demand for flexible leases that also is known as space-as-a-service.

SpaceOS founders Marley Fabisiewicz and Maciej Markowski will join Equiem's executive leadership in global roles as chief strategy officer and chief growth officer, respectively, Equiem said.

Tobias Jahn, a partner of Hitachi Ventures, will join Equiem's board.

The Hitachi partnership already has generated significant revenues in Japan, McMillan said.

Both companies reported strong growth over the past 12 months. SpaceOS doubled recurring revenue and Equiem increased by 2.5 times the number of buildings using its platform.

The merged company will serve 850 buildings, more than 15,000 companies and 300,000 users, McMillan said.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Alden Bentley and Nick Zieminski)