2008 CPN Goldbook - (Page 10) GIANTS Cushman & Wakefield Inc. C ushman & Wakefield Inc., one of the largest privately held real estate services firms in the world, celebrated its 90th year in 2007 and recorded its highest revenues ever amid strategic domestic and international expansion. Under the leadership of president & CEO Bruce Mosler, the company’s revenues approached $2 billion, and it posted its highest percentage ever from international operations. In March, Mosler initiated and spearheaded IFIL’s acquisition of a 72 percent stake in the firm. The investment group of Italy’s Agnelli BRUCE MOSLER family, IFIL replaced the RockePresident & CEO feller Group as Cushman & Wake- Cushman & Wakefield Inc. field’s majority shareholder; Cushman & Wakefield management and employees retain almost 30 percent of the company’s equity. The services firm added several offices in 2007, bringing its worldwide total to 215 offices in 56 countries. It also made a major capital markets move in 2007 with its July announcement that it had acquired a majority stake in New York City-based real estate investment banking company Sonnenblick-Goldman L.L.C. Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman L.L.C. gives Cushman & Wakefield a major position in the real estate debt and equity markets and is in line with the services firm’s strategy of enhancing its global capital markets presence. Cushman & Wakefield’s four primary service lines are transaction services, including tenant and landlord representation; capital markets, including property sales, investment management, investment banking, financing and valuation services; client solutions, including integrated real estate strategies and related services for large corporations and property owners; and consulting services, including business and real estate consulting. Cushman & Wakefield, one of the largest property managers in the world, manages 500 million square feet. Its capital markets division registered record-setting sales in the United States and France in 2007. It bought Southwest commercial real estate services firm Burnham Real Estate/ ONCOR International in December 2007. GE Real Estate W ith a 28 percent compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. Today, the company owns more than $72 billion worth of assets and has a presence in 31 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The firm offers capital and investment solutions, including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed- and floating-rate mortgages for new acquisitions or recapitalizations of commercial real estate. GE Real Estate made an environmental statement in 2007 when it announced a new initiative to green its real estate investment business, a global operation that generates more than $30 billion in annual transaction volume across 28 countries. It plans to embed sustainability in its existing investment processes—from origination of investments to underwriting, due diligence and asset management—in an effort to improve the environmental performances of its holdings, positively affect the health of tenants and improve the value of its properties. GE Real Estate completed several significant international transactions during 2007. It increased its presence in the Canadian real estate market with the August purchase of the eastern Canada real estate portfolio of Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust—an open-ended REIT that owns and operates midsize urban and suburban office and industrial properties in Canada—as well as its related assets. During the summer of 2007, GE Real Estate also ventured into South America for the first time with an investment in Tishman Speyer Brazil Fund L.P., which is intended to develop and acquire premium office, RON PRESSMAN President & CEO mixed-use and for-sale-residenGE Real Estate tial property. Furthermore, it made its first real estate investment in Russia in October through an investment in the new Heitman Russia Property Partners fund. GE Real Estate parent GE Commercial Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Co., offers financial products and services to businesses worldwide. Ron Pressman once again became president & CEO of GE Real Estate in June 2007, replacing Michael Pralle. A 27-year GE veteran, Pressman most recently served as president & CEO of GE Asset Management. 10 Commercial Property News 2008 Goldbook
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