Since Rick Gold and I returned from the NAI Global Leadership Board Meeting in Manhattan last week, we have each received numerous questions with regard to the acquisition of NAI Global by C-III (Andy Farkas). The fact that some of the questions have been asked of us and several of our fellow managers by competitors is reflected in the number of meetings scheduled with potential recruits as a direct result of the announcement.

A significant component of each Leadership Board Meeting is the discussion of Competitive Intelligence. With this acquisition NAI Global arguably becomes the highest capitalized commercial real estate brokerage in the world among companies not publicly held and debt free. C-III brings to the table not just capital, but if our business were a puzzle probably those missing pieces which will allow us to compete at the highest level with any of our competitors.

Certainly we can look forward to a significantly increased deal flow from NAI Global to NAI Capital and its brokers, a significantly improved Corporate Services Platform and significantly more “arrows” in our quiver of client services. Furthermore, the deals we can look forward to receiving will take good advantage of all of our areas of our expertise in the leasing and sale of commercial real estate, not just a single product type or service delivery. I welcome any broker or staff member who might have a question about the benefits of this acquisition to send me an e-mail or give me a telephone call and I will be happy to discuss my perspective in greater detail.

One of the biggest concerns at the Leadership Board Meeting was about a change in culture and change in management. The good news (at least from our perspective) is that the Finn family will remain firmly in charge of the day-to-day management of NAI Global and, after working with them for 17 years, we know them to be individuals of great integrity and humanity. Certainly, NAI Global’s President and CEO Jeff Finn has repetitively demonstrated his business acumen in building NAI Global to the point that we would become a target acquisition for a company such as C-III.

As for our culture, that is a more interesting question. While we do not expect any significant changes, there is no question that the impetus for our fiercely independent members to act and appear as one will become a primary focus in the short term. However, business organisms are never static: they grow, they plateau and then they rise or they shrink. I believe few of us would object to losing a bit of our independent identity in order to improve our competitive positioning and, quite frankly, earn more commission income which benefits us all.

In the near-term, it is my belief that Andy Farkas will be working hard to assist NAI Global’s management in building our presence in three primary markets where insignia was powerful if not dominant: 1. New York; 2. London: and, 3. Paris. Obviously, this only augers to our benefit as all three markets can create increased transactional volume, whether with multi-national corporate clients and foreign investors, to name just a few. We are on our way to not just being the “survivor network” but an international powerhouse.

Over the next month we will all have the benefit of increased knowledge regarding the transaction and I'm certain more questions. NAI Capital and our brokers along with NAI Global have come through an economically difficult period of time and it seems as if at times it's difficult to emotionally grasp the enormity of this acquisition and it's very real benefits that we are sure to see in the near future. I only wish I was a “fly on the wall” in the conference rooms of our competitors once this news was announced.