CBRE Investors staff to be briefed ‘shortly’ on ING deal

Matt Khourie prepares to reveal details of the integration of ING REIM to employees at CBRE Investors, while an internal memo reveals the pleasure of CBRE chief, Brett White (pictured), at beating nearest rival.


CBRE’s chief executive Brett White told staff today of his pleasure at beating the firm’s “nearest rival” to the purchase of most of ING Real Estate Investment Management’s businesses.

In an internal memo, White told staff that the $940 million deal to buy substantially all of the ING REIM business in Europe and Asia and its global real estate securities business, would create the world’s largest property investment management company with around $97.4 billion of assets.

And in a barely veiled dig at Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment Management, White added: “The fact that we prevailed over other leading global financial firms – as well as our nearest rival in the real estate services space – is a testament to the unique ground we’ve staked out across the breadth of our industry.”

In addition, employees of the company’s investment management platform, CBRE Investors, were told they would be hearing shortly from chief executive Matt Khourie with more details of the plans.

Matt Khourie 



The memo also stated: “As there has been much press speculation about this transaction in recent weeks, I am sure this news does not come as a surprise to many of you. This is a strategic acquisition for us at the parent company level because it is consistent with our corporate objective of being the market leader globally in all of our major business lines, and further diversifies our business base and revenue sources.”

White added: “For our subsidiary, CBRE Investors, the transaction does the following: creates the world’s largest real estate investment management company, with approximately $97.4 billion of assets under management; enhances the suite of highly complementary investment programs we offer institutional investors globally across regions, strategies and property types;  and adds considerably to our investment management resources and intellectual capital. The ING REIM leaders are highly regarded for their expertise in the marketplace and will fit well within our strong, existing investment management leadership team.”

“While this acquisition will materially strengthen our investment management platform, most of you will feel or see no impact from it, as this business will continue to be run separate from our services company. We will be keenly focused on growing both the investment management and services businesses as the market recovery continues to unfold. We expect to close the transaction in the second half of this year.”