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Simon Cowell Reveals He Visited With Liam Payne Last Year: ‘Just to Sit and Talk’
Shelby Stivale
October 18, 2024 at 10:51 PM
Simon Cowell recalled a special moment with Liam Payne that occurred a year before the former One Direction member’s death.
“You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all the fun times we had together. And how proud you were to be a dad,” Cowell, 65, wrote in his Instagram tribute on Friday, October 18. “After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I met all those years ago.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, October 16, that Payne died at age 31 in Argentina following a fall from a third-floor hotel balcony. A preliminary autopsy revealed that he died from “internal and external” hemorrhages.
Continuing his statement, Cowell revealed that he has met Payne’s 7-year-old son, Bear, whom the late singer shared with ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
‘The X Factor UK’ Honors ‘Immensely Talented’ Liam Payne After His Death at Age 31: ‘Heartbroken’
“He has your smile and that twinkle in his eyes you have,” Cowell added. “He will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it.”
Cowell put Payne together with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to form One Direction during The X Factor UK season 7 in 2010. Cowell also remembered the band in his tribute.
“I always thought of the 5 of you in the band as brothers. And reading their messages today I believe you were,” he wrote. “And now Liam, I can see the effect you had on so many people. Because you left us too soon.”
Payne first auditioned for the singing competition show in 2008, and Cowell recalled turning him down.
Liam Payne Through the Years: Revisiting the One Direction Alum’s Life in Photos
“I had to tell you when you were 14 that this wasn’t your time. And we both made a promise that we would meet again,” the music producer wrote. “A lot of people would have given up. You didn’t. You came back and within months the whole world knew Liam.”
Cowell continued: “And you never forgot the fans. I watched you spending so much time with people who had wanted to meet you. You really cared.”
Following the news of Payne’s sudden passing, Cowell postponed the Britain’s Got Talent auditions on Thursday, October 17.
“Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today’s auditions in Blackpool,” ApplauseStore, the show’s ticketing service, shared in a statement via X. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
World’s Largest Real Estate Brokerage’s $1 Billion Deal Pushes Business Toward Government Work
CBRE Group’s Proposed Purchase of J&J Worldwide Services Expands Public Sector Contracts
CBRE Group plans to expand its capabilities in the public sector through an acquisition of J&J Worldwide Services. (CoStar)
CoStar News
6 February 2024 | 7:16
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CBRE Group, the world’s largest commercial real estate brokerage, is buying a company that services military bases and hospitals for more than $1 billion, expanding its government services offerings as part of a wider strategy to help combat a lack of deals.
The agreement calls for CBRE to pay an initial $800 million in cash to acquire J&J Worldwide Services and a potential bonus of up to $250 million in 2027 if performance goals are met. The seller is Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm Arlington Capital Partners and the deal is expected to close in the coming months. CBRE declined to share details of the performance goals.
J&J, based in Franklin, Tennessee, provides services to high-profile government-occupied facilities, including the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the U.S. Naval Academy, Brooke Army Medical Center and naval stations.
Firms throughout the commercial real estate industry are seeking to diversify their offerings after being hit by a challenging economy with higher interest rates and tight capital markets. The deal for J&J — a company that mainly serves the U.S. Department of Defense through long-term, fixed-price contracts — can be viewed a safer bet that is more immune to economic downturns.
Robert “Bob” Shibuya, chairman and CEO of real estate advisory firm Mohr Partners, told CoStar News it appears CBRE is diversifying its revenue to become more sustainable, pivoting its business further into government and healthcare and giving the business more certainty compared with its brokerage and development part of its business.
“CBRE’s acquisition of J&J Worldwide Services is consistent with their stated strategy to diversify their revenues and gross margin to include more predictable and sustainable service offerings,” said Shibuya, whose firm wasn’t involved in the deal. “J&J’s focus on public sector clients, including the U.S. government, will allow CBRE to capture more predictable revenue.”
Like other real estate services firms, CBRE’s earnings were hit in the aftermath of the pandemic with capital market woes financially hurting the company’s bottom line. CBRE expects to report earnings next week; its last quarterly earnings fell nearly 56% and the firm said it planned to cut company costs.
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Dallas-based CBRE has been exploring possible ways to deploy billions of dollars on large acquisitions over the past year to reshape its business. Less than a year ago, CBRE named a new chief investment officer from Morgan Stanley.
“Generally speaking, real estate firms are seeking to diversify their income streams as both property leasing and property management as the capital markets have been challenged in the last several years of the economic cycle,” Walter Bialas, a senior insight analyst in Avison Young’s Dallas office, told CoStar News. Bialas said he had no specific insight into CBRE’s potential M&A activity and is not involved in the deal. “Everyone is looking for ways to better serve clients and enhance revenue streams.”
The uncertainty tied to elevated interest rates, valuation of property and the delta between buyers and sellers has kept an industry-wide real estate recovery at bay.
Government Work
The deal fits with CBRE’s strategy to enhance its government client base within its global workplace solutions business, adding services with long-term contracts to the firm’s offerings, CBRE Chairman and CEO Bob Sulentic said in a statement.
“We are adding a company with deep government contracting experience, long-term customer relationships and a 50-year record of outstanding technical service delivery,” Sulentic said in the statement.
Prior to the J&J deal, CBRE had government work through its public institutions group, where it helped sell buildings occupied by federal state and municipal government entities, as well as public institution project management work, according to the firm’s website.
However, the public sector represents the least penetrated sector by CBRE and “thus provides meaningful headroom for growth,” a CBRE spokesperson told CoStar News on Tuesday.
CBRE executives expect the J&J acquisition to generate more than $525 million of revenue and about $65 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year.
J&J employs more than 3,300 employees throughout the world in servicing more than 250 hospitals, clinics and military installations in the United States, as well as Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
The company divides its services across three lines of business, with focuses including healthcare and medical, mission support and engineering. Once the deal closes, J&J will keep its name and operate as a separate legal entity, according to the CBRE spokesperson.
“Over the last four years, we have been able to make great strides in further realizing our full potential through increasing our global reach and footprint as well as bringing our unique capabilities to a broader set of customers,” J&J CEO Steve Kelley said in a statement.
Story updated Feb. 6 to include comment from CBRE’s spokesperson.
