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Woolpert Expands U.K. Architecture Capabilities with Acquisition of UMC Architects

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The move strengthens Woolpert’s global design capabilities to support accelerating demand for data centers and industrial redevelopment across Europe.

LONDON, April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As demand accelerates to repurpose industrial and logistics sites for next‑generation infrastructure, Woolpert has acquired UMC Architects, a U.K.-based architecture firm known for its industrial, logistics, and large‑scale redevelopment expertise. The acquisition strengthens Woolpert’s ability to deliver its integrated architecture, engineering, and geospatial solutions across the region.

Since its founding in 2012, UMC has grown to over 90 design staff across its three offices in Newark, Manchester, and London. The full-service architecture firm has delivered architecture, master planning, BIM, urban design, feasibility studies, and refurbishment services for clients across the U.K. and Europe, including Amazon, DHL, Ikea, Coca‑Cola, and the BBC.

UMC is widely recognized for its expertise in industrial, logistics, and television and entertainment design, as well as specialized experience in transportation and manufacturing facilities — capabilities that align with and enhance Woolpert’s growing data center practice. Woolpert has provided data center design services throughout the U.K. and Europe since 2022, following its acquisition of Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects (SNHA), a Chicago‑ and London‑based, award‑winning data center architecture firm. With the addition of UMC, Woolpert now has more than 600 employees throughout Europe.

The acquisition comes amid sustained growth in Europe’s data center market, driven by cloud adoption, AI workloads, and rising digital infrastructure investment. At the same time, land and power constraints are accelerating the redevelopment of industrial and logistics sites across the region.

Together, Woolpert and UMC are uniquely positioned to help clients transform underutilized industrial and logistics assets into modern, high‑performance facilities including distribution, advanced manufacturing, and data centers.

“Joining Woolpert allows us to build on our strengths while significantly expanding the scale and impact of what we can deliver,” said UMC Architects Director Matthew Duffin. “By combining Woolpert’s data center experience with UMC’s industrial and logistics expertise, we can guide clients through increasingly complex redevelopment projects across the U.K. and Europe.”

UMC Architects Director Matthew Salanyk added, “This is a defining moment for UMC and a natural next step in our growth story. We have built a practice with a commitment to industrial architecture and a clear purpose to be best in class. Becoming part of Woolpert gives our team access to a broader platform and a global network that will allow us to take on more ambitious projects and continue investing in the talent and culture that define who we are.”

Woolpert President and CEO Neil Churman said the addition of the UMC team brings local insight, technical depth, and hands‑on delivery experience that will strengthen Woolpert’s integrated service offering throughout the region.

“We’re excited to welcome UMC’s talented professionals to Woolpert and continue building our team in the U.K.,” said Churman. “This is more than an acquisition — it’s a partnership built on shared values, complementary strengths, and a common focus on delivering exceptional results for our clients as they navigate an increasingly complex built environment. UMC exemplifies our commitment to growth, job creation, and community stewardship across the U.K. and throughout the world.”

About Woolpert
Woolpert is a global leader in architecture, engineering, and geospatial (AEG) services, with over a century of experience driving innovation and delivering impact. We fuse deep technical expertise with a forward-thinking mindset to solve complex challenges across the public, private, and government sectors. Woolpert is proud to be a certified Great Place to Work, a Top 25 Building Design+Construction firm, a Top 50 Engineering News-Record Design firm, and a Global Top 15 Global Geospatial company. Woolpert operates from more than 75 offices across five continents—building smarter, more resilient communities around the world. Learn more at woolpert.com.

About UMC
UMC Architects is a leading UK industrial architect specializing in distribution and logistics, television and entertainment, transportation, and manufacturing design. Operating from offices in Newark, Manchester, and London, UMC’s team of over 90 talented designers deliver architecture, master planning, BIM, urban design, feasibility studies, and refurbishment services for clients across the U.K. With a Director-led approach to every project and a commitment to combining design excellence with an exceptional client experience, UMC has masterplanned thousands of acres and delivered millions of square feet of floor space for some of the world’s most recognised organisations. Learn more at umcarchitects.com.

Media Contact
Lynn Rossi
lynn.rossi@woolpert.com

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Ghada “GG” Benitez Launches Dubai Real Estate Learning Center for American and Global Investors

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Ghada “GG” Benitez has launched an expanded Dubai Real Estate Learning Center designed to help American and global investors better understand UAE property investment, including ownership, financing, Golden Visa eligibility, developer due diligence, taxes, property management and exit strategy. The new resource builds on Benitez’s cross-border work between California and the UAE, her third consecutive year at the International Property Show, and her ongoing investor-education platform, The Dubai Connect® Podcast.

SAN DIEGO and Dubai, UAE, Sept. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — As international interest in UAE real estate continues to grow, Ghada “GG” Benitez is expanding the investor-education platform behind GG Benitez International with a new Dubai Real Estate Learning Center built to answer the questions global buyers are asking before they commit capital.

“I came to Dubai wanting to understand how the market worked, what protected investors, where the risks were and where the opportunities were. I wanted to take that knowledge back to global investors in a way that was understandable and actionable.”

The 59-briefing resource is designed around the issues Benitez hears repeatedly from investors evaluating Dubai and the wider UAE: how foreign ownership works, how to evaluate a developer, what protections exist when buying off-plan, how financing works for non-residents, what Golden Visa eligibility requires, how taxes and fees affect the investment, and what happens after handover.

For Benitez, the purpose is straightforward: help investors understand the entire investment before they buy it. “International investors can now see a Dubai property launch on Instagram, receive a brochure through WhatsApp and reserve a unit from thousands of miles away,” Benitez said. “What they often do not have is one trusted place where they can understand what happens before, during and after that purchase. Who regulates the transaction? How is the developer evaluated? Can a non-resident finance it? What does the investor need to know about taxes in their home country? Who manages it after handover? And what is the eventual exit strategy? That is the gap I wanted this platform to help close.”

Built for Global Investors, With a Particular Understanding of the American Buyer

Benitez has spent the past few years helping individual investors from the United States and other international markets evaluate Dubai real estate. Her focus on individual American investors began before U.S. demand for Dubai property became a mainstream real estate conversation.

Rather than approach the market solely through individual property launches, Benitez says she deliberately built her understanding from the top down: learning from regulators, government representatives, established developers, attorneys, mortgage specialists, bankers, international tax professionals, property managers and other professionals involved throughout the lifecycle of a cross-border property investment.

That approach also became the foundation of The Dubai Connect® Podcast, Benitez’s investor-education platform, which has generated more than 2 million views and has featured conversations with representatives of the Dubai Land Department, UAE attorneys, developers, mortgage specialists, economists, property managers, tax professionals and other market experts. “I did not come to Dubai looking for inventory to sell,” Benitez said. “I came wanting to understand how the market worked, what protected the investor, where the risks were and where Dubai was going over the next five, ten, twenty and thirty years. Then I wanted to take that information back to the investor in a way that was understandable and actionable.”

Advising Across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah

Through GG Benitez International, Benitez advises American and global investors evaluating opportunities across the UAE, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. Her work includes access to and relationships with many of the region’s leading and emerging developers, including Emaar, Nakheel, Sobha Realty, DAMAC, Meraas, OMNIYAT, BEYOND Developments, Ellington Properties, Imtiaz Developments, Aldar and Modon.

Rather than limiting investors to a single developer, project or emirate, Benitez’s approach is to compare opportunities across developers, communities and markets based on the client’s goals, investment horizon and intended use of the property. That may mean evaluating a Dubai off-plan investment for capital appreciation, a ready property for rental income, a Golden Visa qualifying purchase, a second home, a vacation property, or opportunities in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah that better fit the investor’s objectives.

“The property has to fit the goal,” Benitez said. “I do not believe every investor should buy the same project, in the same community, or even in the same emirate.”

Bridging Two Cultures and Two Investment Mindsets

A first-generation Arab American who divides her professional life between San Diego and Dubai, Benitez says her background has helped shape how she works with cross-border investors. She understands the cultural importance of relationships, reputation and long-term trust in the Middle East, while also understanding the questions and skepticism often brought by American and other Western investors evaluating an unfamiliar international market. “I understand why an investor sitting in California, New York, London, Toronto or another market may have questions before wiring money into a property thousands of miles away,” Benitez said. “My role is not to tell them not to ask those questions. My role is to make sure the difficult questions get answered.”

Although American investors remain an important part of Benitez’s practice, GG Benitez International serves investors from multiple countries and is designed as an English-language resource for global buyers evaluating Dubai and the wider UAE.

The new Learning Center begins with foundational questions including whether foreigners can legally own Dubai property and how the buying process works from abroad, then progresses into mortgages and financing, Golden Visa and residency, costs and taxes, investment strategy, developer evaluation, ownership, management and more advanced investor considerations.

From Property Search to a Turnkey Cross-Border Strategy

GG Benitez International’s advisory model is structured around the broader investment lifecycle rather than the property search alone. Depending on a client’s needs, Benitez works with a network of appropriately qualified professionals across areas including mortgage financing, banking, legal services, international tax planning, company formation, Golden Visa processing, property management and eventual resale. The objective is to provide investors with a coordinated point of contact while allowing specialists to address the areas that require their particular professional expertise. “Buying the property is one transaction,” Benitez said. “The investment may last five, ten or twenty years. My responsibility is to think beyond reservation day.”

That philosophy is reflected throughout the new website.

The site’s Investment Strategy and Market section addresses questions including how to identify a high-potential area, whether Dubai faces oversupply, why some properties appreciate more than others and how investors should think about developer reputation, future demand and exit strategy.

Two recent long-form analyses, “How I Evaluate a Dubai Real Estate Investment Before Recommending It” and “Is Dubai Real Estate Oversupplied? Why the Answer Depends on Where and What You Buy,” explain upon that approach.

Together, the resources reflect Benitez’s view that Dubai should be evaluated as a collection of distinct micro-markets rather than one uniform property market.

A Third Year on the International Property Show Stage

The website expansion follows Benitez’s third consecutive year participating in the International Property Show in Dubai. At IPS 2026, she hosted and moderated “Follow the Smart Money: Why American Capital Is Looking to Dubai,” an expert discussion examining the growing presence of American institutions, companies and individual investors in Dubai and the wider UAE. Her continued participation at IPS reflects the broader mission behind GG Benitez International: creating a bridge between international investors and the professionals, institutions and information shaping the UAE property market. “Every time I travel through the United States or speak with an investor abroad, I listen for the questions they still cannot get answered clearly,” Benitez said. “Then I go back to Dubai and speak with the people closest to those issues. The new Learning Center is really the digital version of that process.”

International Training for Cross-Border Real Estate

GG is a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS®) through the National Association of REALTORS®. The CIPS designation is the only international real estate designation recognized by the National Association of REALTORS® and requires specialized education focused on global transactions. Benitez is also a California Licensed REALTOR® with Realty Executives Dillon, DRE #01487964, and a RERA Certified Dubai Real Estate Broker with Prime Capital Realty. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California San Diego and spent nearly two decades leading a public relations firm before expanding into international real estate. “Credentials matter, but ultimately trust is built through what happens after the client says yes,” Benitez said. “I want my clients to know who is helping them finance the property, who is available if they have a legal question, who can manage it when they are thousands of miles away and who will help them when it is eventually time to sell.”

About GG Benitez International

GG Benitez International is a cross-border real estate advisory brand led by Ghada “GG” Benitez, serving American and global investors seeking real estate opportunities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, coastal California and select international markets. Benitez is CEO of GG Benitez International; Associate Director, U.S. & Global Markets at Prime Capital Realty in Dubai; Director of International Markets at Realty Executives Dillon in California; a California Licensed REALTOR®, DRE #01487964; a RERA Certified Dubai Real Estate Broker; a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS®); and host of The Dubai Connect® Podcast. The firm’s education-led approach helps investors evaluate property through the full investment lifecycle, including acquisition strategy, developer and market due diligence, financing, ownership considerations, property management and eventual exit.

To explore the Dubai Real Estate Learning Center, visit GG Benitez International.

Media Contact

GG Benitez, GG Benitez Public Relations, Inc., 1 6193397978, gg@ggbenitezpr.com, www.ggbenitezpr.com

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SUNMI Deepens Eurasia Partnership at the Belt and Road Summit

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HONG KONG, Sept. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SUNMI Technology (06810.HK) announced on September 10, separate cooperation agreements with Türkiye-based fintech company TOKEN and Mongolia-based digital bank M bank at the 11th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong.

The agreements will bring together SUNMI’s commercial IoT and digital commerce capabilities with the partners’ local expertise, advancing collaboration across digital commerce, smart devices, payments, and digital financial services.

In Türkiye, SUNMI and TOKEN will explore digital commerce solutions for banks and offline merchants, combining SUNMI’s commercial IoT capabilities with TOKEN’s payment technology and local market expertise.

In Mongolia, SUNMI and M bank will combine commercial devices, digital technology and digital financial services to explore new digital solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.

“Hong Kong is a vital gateway connecting China with global markets,” said Sam, CMO of SUNMI. “Our collaboration with TOKEN and M bank brings SUNMI’s technology together with strong local partners. We look forward to working with more partners across Eurasia to make digitalization more accessible to businesses in every market.”

The agreements mark another step in SUNMI’s global ecosystem strategy. SUNMI will continue to work with local partners to connect smart devices, business software, payments and digital services, developing solutions that meet the needs of offline businesses in local markets.

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SOURCE SUNMI Technology

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PwC US and PwC India Form Joint Venture to Help Clients Grow and Compete at Greater Speed and Scale

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Strategic combination brings together the breadth of PwC’s advisory talent and capabilities across India and the US into a single, integrated platform for global clients

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PwC US and PwC India today announced a joint venture that brings together the full breadth of their advisory talent and capabilities across India and the US — uniting PwC India’s Consulting business and PwC US Advisory’s India-based capabilities into a single, integrated platform to serve clients in India, the US, and around the world. 

India is increasingly central to how global companies grow and operate — as a significant and fast-growing market, a hub for Global Capability Centers, and a source of world-class talent and innovation. At the same time, clients are looking for deeper expertise, greater scale, and more seamless access to capabilities across markets. Rather than adding capacity in one place, the joint venture connects market relationships, industry expertise, and delivery into one team — so clients can access the right capabilities, wherever they sit. 

“The firms that win will be the ones that stop thinking about markets, capabilities, and delivery as separate pieces. That’s what makes this combination so powerful,” said Paul Griggs, PwC US Senior Partner and CEO. “We’re bringing the full breadth of our advisory talent in India together with PwC US — one team with the relationships, expertise, and scale to deliver for our clients and the PwC network. This isn’t about where work gets done. It’s about building something clients can’t get anywhere else: the best of PwC, brought together around their biggest opportunities, wherever they operate.” 

The combined platform spans the full spectrum of client needs — from strategy and transformation through technology, engineering, and AI. It brings together managed services at greater scale, expanding PwC’s ability to advise clients and to operate critical parts of their businesses. The platform is expected to more seamlessly support US-headquartered enterprises with Global Capability Centers in India, strengthen how PwC serves clients across major global trade flows, and create a stronger foundation for innovation as AI continues to reshape how work is delivered. 

The joint venture also advances PwC’s broader ambition to build a more globally integrated consulting model, giving PwC firms around the world greater access to the combined talent and expertise of the new platform. 

“Throughout our more than 150 years’ history in the country, we have been committed to the growth of India. Our Vision 2030 aligns our commitment to building a Viksit Bharat, and this joint venture is a step in that direction. For PwC India, this is a testimony to the tremendous journey of growth that we have been on over the last five years and our position of strength in the network. It is a matter of great pride for us that PwC India now has an opportunity to play a greater role in the success of our Global Network,” said Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson of PwC India and the incoming CEO of the new joint venture. “This brings together strengths that used to sit in different places, allowing us to better serve clients across the world by combining the might of PwC’s global consulting capabilities with the best talent from India. It means our domestic clients gain access to best-in-class global capabilities, our multinational and GCC clients are served more seamlessly, and the capability and client perimeter for our partners and people go up, so they can take on a greater ambition than what we envisioned in Vision 2030. It also enables us to make greater investments in our people and in the value we can create for clients — in India and everywhere in the world they operate.” 

The signing marks an important milestone and the beginning of the next phase. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2027, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Until then, PwC US and PwC India will continue to serve clients through their existing structures and ways of working. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The joint venture will be owned and governed by PwC US and PwC India. 

About PwC 

At PwC, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. We’re a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 364,000 people in 136 countries and 137 territories. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, we help clients build, accelerate, and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com

Contact

Ryan Cangialosi
ryan.a.cangialosi@pwc.com

Ruchi Mann
ruchi.mann@pwc.com 

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SOURCE PwC

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