NEW YORK CITY — C-III Capital Partners LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NAI Global, the largest network of independent commercial real estate firms worldwide. NAI Global will continue to operate as a separate company under its current management following the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011, for which financial terms were not disclosed.
“This agreement represents a tremendous opportunity for NAI and our members,” said Gerald Finn, chairman of NAI Global. “We expect NAI will be able to significantly grow its service offerings and present new opportunities to our members.”
NAI currently manages a network of commercial real estate firms comprising 5,000 professionals and 350 offices in the U.S. and 55 countries throughout the world. NAI’s network members provide a full spectrum of corporate, financial, technology and project management services.
“The combination with C-III will provide a depth of resources, talent and tools from which we can draw upon to accelerate our growth,” said Jeffrey Finn, president and CEO of NAI Global. “Rarely do you find partners so perfectly strategically aligned as NAI Global and C-III. This is a natural fit and extremely exciting news for the industry.”
C-III launched in March 2010 with the purchase of Centerline Capital Group’s institutional real estate debt fund management and commercial mortgage loan servicing businesses. Since then, C-III has successfully launched mortgage origination, investment sales and title insurance businesses from scratch, and expanded its principal investment, loan origination fund management and primary and special loan servicing businesses. As a Primary Servicer, C-III Asset Management is rated CPS 2- by Fitch and Above Average by Standard and Poor’s. As a Special Servicer, C-III Asset Management is one of the highest rated servicers in the industry — rated CSS 1- by Fitch and Strong by Standard and Poor’s.
“C-III plans to use its asset base, along with strategic acquisitions such as NAI, to create a fully diversified commercial real estate services company,” said Andrew Farkas, who leads C-III capital.
Farkas founded and was Chairman and CEO of Insignia Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:IFS), which was one of the largest commercial real estate services companies in the world when it merged with CB Richard Ellis in 2003. At its height, Insignia managed $12.5 billion in assets.
C-III’s portfolio currently includes approximately $150 billion in assets.
— Dan Marcec