CB Richard Ellis acquisition complete - South Florida Business Journal:

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Berger worked as a brokert for /ESG on a recent Friday and return to work Mondayt asa employee. The suddenj job change marked the final stretch of CBRichard Ellis' acquisitionm of Insignia. The two real estate firms spent sevenn months charting how to combine thegianr operations. The marriage of New York-based Insigniaa and Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis seemed to many a logica l union inSouth Florida. "The transition was seamless," said who joined Insignia three years ago aftetr resigning from TrammellCrow Co. "uI closed the door of my officd at on a Friday and opened the door of the new office at the Doral Center thefollowing Monday.
" Both officeds are west of in the Doral area. CB Richared Ellis' acquisition of Insignia makes the combined grou one ofthe world's largest real estatre firms. Insignia was a force in the United France, Europe, Asia and Lati America. The 14,000-employee CB Richard Ellis was aforcew domestically. While both companies often tussled for the same deals in many the dynamic in South Florida was less Insignia was a relative newcomer to the region and stil posturing for market share inthe tri-county pecking order, local real estater observers said.
"CB and Insignia have complementary services," Richarr Bamonte, a former associate director of now a senior associate with CBRichard "Insignia represented landlords by managing and leasingh major office buildings. CB was more focused on apartment buildinf sales andindustrial properties." CB Richard Ellis' strengthy was in investment sales and tenan representation. That is something Insignia did on alesseer scale, he said. CB Richard Ellis had tried to penetrate the leasing and propert y management marketin Miami-Dade County, dominated in part by said Ed Mitchell, CB Richard Ellis' managinh director for the South Florida region.
"Ths merger was a perfect fit forSouthh Florida," he said. "The union will help us be more effectivs andprice competitive." In an era when brokerage fees are plummeting and operatingt costs are staying the same or going up, mergersx tend to be a said Michael Cannon, managing director of the Soutyh Florida office of Integra Realty Resources, a national real estate valuatio and consulting firm. "Service providers in the commercialo and residential real estate industry will continue to he said. "By doing businesses are going to be able to performjcoordinated services.
It has to do with Fees are coming down while expenses stay the Cannon knows the situation well because his own Appraisal and Real Estate Economics merged in 1999 with Integra Realty anational group. Dismantling and moving three Insignia offices in Fort Lauderdalr and Miami into four CB Richard Ellis officezs happened ina weekend, Berger said. Most of Insignia's 16 brokerss were relocated to CB Richard Ellisw offices at 777Brickell Ave. in Miami; 8350 N.W. 52nd St. in west 1 E. Broward Blvd. in Fort and 5355 Town Center Road inBoca Raton. The union producee a total of 74 CB Richard Ellisd brokers inPalm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Mitchell said.
Only one Insignis broker left the company followingthe merger. "Hse had been with Insignia for a Bamonte said of former broketJubeen Vaghefi. "He was a junior."