Leading US Brokerage Firms Back on Track, Expanding Abroad
National Real Estate Investor reports: “In a race to expand their geographic reach and add fresh expertise, many of the biggest brokerages have been on a buyout binge this year, with much of the activity centered in overseas markets.”
So stated Lee Murphy, contributing writing to National Real Estate Investor (NREI), in a recent article meant to detail how commercial brokerage firms have made their way successfully out of the downturn. Though they were competitive internationally before the crash, Mr Murphy evidenced Jones Lang LaSalle’s recent $319 million deal to purchase London-based King Sturge, while CB Richard Ellis Group has also acquired its share of smaller shops in Eastern Europe and Australia.
This aggressive M&A activity reflects brokerage firms’ newfound confidence, which is being garnered from the past year’s steep rise in transaction volume. Mr Murphy provided a graph of yearly US transaction volume based on data aggregated by Real Capital Analytics, stating alongside the clearly upward trend registered in 2010 that, “Commercial real estate brokerages are feeling more optimistic than they have in a while because the sale of properties and portfolios in the US soared from $54.7 billion in 2009 to $124.6 billion in 2010.”
With most observers expecting another sharp rise in sales to materialize by the end of this year, brokerage firms have regained their swagger, yet have clearly learned some valuable lessons from the downturn. For Mr Murphy’s complete take on brokerage firm’s recent M&A, please see the full article on NREI’s site.
View the full article on National Real Estate Investor: Leading US Brokerage Firms Back on Track, Expanding Abroad
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Posted by: Nina Turner