Cassidy Turley sees global ties in DTZ purchase

SAN RAFAEL -- Cassidy Turley could become the latest large commercial real estate company with North Bay ties -- two offices with 13 agents -- to be acquired under a new deal that would create one of the largest commercial property services companies in the world.

On Sept. 22, Washington, D.C.-based Cassidy Turley said it inked a deal to sell all its equity to an investment group that is acquiring Chicago-based commercial property company DTZ, which has $2 billion in annual revenue from 208 offices in 52 countries with 24,200 employees, including locations in Sacramento and San Francisco. If the DTZ--Cassidy Turley combination is completed by year-end as planned, the new DTZ would have $2.9 billion in revenue and 28,200 employees, said Joseph Stettinius Jr., Cassidy Turley CEO in a letter to clients.

DTZ would be one of the largest commercial property companies globally. Cassidy Turley is one of the nation's largest such companies.

"DTZ offers respected full-service capabilities throughout Europe and Asia as well as an established domestic corporate services and facilities management platform," he wrote. "Their capabilities, combined with our legacy of strong local market leadership and customized client service in the U.S., will allow us to more effectively serve our clients anywhere in the world."

The pending expansion via DTZ would give Cassidy Turley agents marketing North Bay properties easier access to global markets, as joining Cassidy Turley did for Northern California agents at BT Commercial, a predecessor firm, according to Jeff Negri, who leads Cassidy Turley's four-agent Santa Rosa office. San Rafael-based Whitney Strotz is North Bay managing director.

"There are so many companies now that have affiliates or are headquartered globally, and they need and want to see into other markets," Mr. Negri said. "If a local tech firm and thinking expand into other regions, we have the ability to call an associate and get a market update and embrace opportunities there."

BT agents also gained property management, lease administration and capital markets business with the Cassidy Turley shift. Affiliations with global networks of brokerages also allow for global market intelligence and listing visibility, but "having the same bottom" line of being in the same company can be advantageous, Mr. Negri said.

BT Commercial opened North Bay offices in San Rafael and Santa Rosa over a decade ago. BT shifted brokerage network affiliations from NAI to Cassidy Turley as the latter launched in 2010.

In June, DTZ owner UGL of Australia said it reached a $1.215 billion deal to sell DTZ to TPG, PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. The deal is set to close by November.

TPG has North Bay connections going back to the mid-1990s with its past ownership of a wine group centered around Beringer Vineyards, now owned by Treasury Wine Estates. TPG and co-founder Bill Price in 2009 formed Sonoma-based Vincraft Wine Group, which owns Kosta Browne and Gary Farrell wineries.

The Cassidy Turley sale deal follows the Aug. 14 completion of the acquisition of Cornish & Carey Commercial, whose 280 agents in 12 Northern California offices include two North Bay offices with more than two dozen agents. Publicly traded BGC Partners' Newmark Grubb Knight Frank and Cornish & Carey now operate as Newmark Cornish & Carey (newmarkccarey.com), with 330 offices and 12,000 employees worldwide.

Cornish & Carey Senior Vice President and Managing Director Haden Ongaro, a longtime North Bay agent, opened Cornish & Carey offices in San Rafael and Santa Rosa in 2010.

That year, Cornish & Carey partnered with what at that time was Newmark Knight Frank to expand the brokerage reach beyond Northern California. BGC acquired the brokerage Grubb & Ellis in 2012.

Newmark Cornish & Carey and Cassidy Turley were ranked Nos. 2 and 3 on the March 10 Business Journal list of commercial real estate brokerages, following Keegan & Coppin Co., Inc./ONCOR International, which has four offices and nearly five dozen agents.

Show Comment