Colliers International, a commercial real estate brokerage firm that has been dominant in the markets in which it conducts business, is entering the Fairfield County market via the acquisition of FirstService Williams.
The companies did not immediately reveal financial terms of the transaction. Colliers International in the past has operated on a hybrid ownership structure, retaining equity ownership of operations in many of its markets but pairing with locally owned affiliates in some that use the Colliers International brand.
FirstService Williams”™ Stamford-based becomes the hub in Fairfield County for Colliers International, which has its U.S. operations based in Boston. Colliers”™ lone Connecticut office has been in Hartford.
Combined, the companies form the third-largest commercial real estate brokerage company in the world, trailing only CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang Lasalle, which both have Stamford offices.
Cushman & Wakefield likewise is a dominant company in Fairfield County, operating from an office in Stamford.
“We are on a mission really in the tri-state area to recruit top talent,” said Joe Caridi, executive vice president of FirstService Williams on the eve of the merger. “That”™s our goal. We feel that now we are Colliers International, recruiting and building the office will be easier.”
The Colliers International deal is the biggest merger in the commercial real estate brokerage industry since Jones Lang LaSalle acquired the Staubach Co. in 2008.
The deal erases the FirstService Williams brand name, which traces its heritage back 80 years. FirstService Williams was formed in 2008 after Toronto-based FirstService Corp. acquired GVA Williams. Since then, FirstService and Colliers have increasingly knit their operations together through several smaller acquisitions and partnerships between the companies involving various real estate services units.
With a full acquisition now in the cards, Colliers and FirstService Williams together have 15,000 employees, including about 300 FirstService Williams workers in the region, among 480 offices in more than 60 countries. FirstService Williams also has an office in Parsippany, N.J.
“By integrating our mission and services and local expertise, we have a stronger and better-aligned client service platform operating in the most dynamic real estate market in the country,” said Mark Jaccom, the New York City-based CEO of FirstService Williams, in a prepared statement. “Our clients and professionals will immediately benefit from this news as our business continues to expand.”
Even as Colliers International combines with FirstService Williams, multiple Colliers affiliates in other U.S. markets announced they would split off to form a new real estate services company called Cassidy Turley, with a launch date of March 1 and no headquarters immediately designated. Cassidy Turley has a significant book of business in New Jersey; a few affiliates of Grubb & Ellis and NAI Global are also joining Cassidy Turley.
