Skip to main content
Win

Posted on: 15/09/2026

Creation and development of ESSET’s Corporate Occupiers Business Unit

Building a structured ESSET offering in the corporate real estate outsourcing market: a significant organic growth opportunity

Over the past several years in France, large corporations — particularly former state-owned companies — have increasingly outsourced parts of their real estate management activities, which were historically managed in-house. Whether they are owner-occupiers, tenants or landlords leasing space to third parties, these corporate occupiers share a number of common characteristics: large and diversified real estate portfolios, well-established Corporate Real Estate functions, sophisticated information systems generating significant volumes of data, a strong focus on reporting and performance management, and ESG as a key strategic priority.

Through the acquisition of YXIME, ESSET already had a number of flagship mandates in this market, including SNCF Immobilier’s regional portfolios. These credentials strengthened ESSET’s positioning and enabled the company to compete for several major tenders in the Corporate Occupiers segment, resulting in a number of significant contract wins across different geographies: La Poste Immobilier, the real estate arm of La Poste Group, in 2022, covering Northern and Western France for the technical management of its assets; Renault, in 2022, in the Paris region, for the management and oversight of technical service providers; and Orange, in 2023, across Western France, taking over a range of activities previously performed by its in-house Corporate Real Estate function.

In September 2023, ESSET established its Corporate Occupiers Business Unit with the ambition of positioning the company as a leading player in this market segment, developing a bespoke service offering tailored to corporate clients’ real estate requirements, and building closer relationships with key market influencers and specifiers,  and growing revenue to €10M within 3 years (+40%).

The Corporate Occupiers Business Unit was structured around several key organizational principles:

  • Appointment of a dedicated lead for each mandate / client account, subsequently complemented by regional leads;
  • Set-up of dedicated client teams, with profiles, expertise and experience tailored to each client’s specific requirements
  • Dedicated training and change management programs to develop the required capabilities and support teams throughout the transition;
  • Development of a broad range of real estate capabilities, including acquisition and disposal advisory and Project Management support, management of private and public real estate portfolios and land assets, technical service provider management and oversight, risk management, lease administration, asset marketing and commercialization, and works/project management support (delegated project management), among others;
  • Implementation of a dedicated “control tower” for each mandate, to ensure data quality, consistency and reliability, together with a dedicated P&L for each client mandate.

ESSET also invested in information systems and data analytics capabilities, a critical area for Corporate Occupiers given their sophisticated reporting requirements and strong focus on data-driven performance management.

Finally, dedicated FTEs from shared support functions — including Finance & Accounting, Legal, Procurement and Sustainability — were allocated to support the Corporate Occupiers Business Unit. ESSET also further structured its ESG approach and capabilities for this market, reflecting the high expectations of corporate clients in this area.

Three years after its creation, the Corporate Occupiers division is delivering results that exceed its initial target: the €15M revenue threshold will be approached, if not exceeded, in 2026 (versus the €10M target set in 2023). The division now employs 126 staff, managing 19,000 leases and 10 million square meters, spread across key structuring mandates: SNCF Immobilier Technique (25 FTEs, €3.5M), SNCF Immobilier Valorisation (50 FTEs, €5.4M), LPI (30 FTEs, €3.7M), and Orange (21 FTEs, €2.6M).

The division’s development has been marked by strong commercial wins with long-term contracts: ESSET became SNCF Immobilier’s sole nationwide Property Manager in France in 2024, which facilitated the onboarding of new clients into the portfolio such as Rail Logistique Europe and Société Nationale des Espaces Ferroviaires.

Furthermore, each contract/market has demonstrated its ability to generate organic growth and to serve as a lever for winning new tenders.

Next steps aim to secure the renewal of our current contracts by winning the associated tenders, to grow the client portfolio in a segment where needs and market players may see significant development, and to continue structuring around data and AI support — an essential lever for unlocking the value of real estate data. New outsourcing opportunities could represent additional growth levers to seize, such as those currently being considered by the French State, prospects that suggest the Corporate Occupiers division still has strong growth potential ahead.