Commercial real estate services firm Lee & Associates – Houston has acquired Commercial Resource Capital. The mortgage banking and real estate investment services company is also Houston-based.
The merger will allow Lee & Associates – Houston to provide a wider variety of services, such as debt and equity placement, investment sales and structured finance. The acquisition will also expand thecompany’s footprint and its market presence by serving a wider range of clients. With the merger, CRC Founder Jason Dannatt joins Lee & Associates as head of capital markets.
CRC has been active in the industry for more than 50 years and worked with insurance company investors throughout North America. The company provides capital solutions for various transactions which included construction loans, fixed and adjustable-rate financing, mezzanine and secondary financing structure and equity investments, among other services.
Founded in 2015, Lee & Associates – Houston is part of a network of brokers located in more than 75 offices throughout North America. In Commercial Property Executive’s recent ranking of the top real estate brokerage companies, the Lee & Associates network occupied the eighth position with $7.6 billion total sales investment volume as of 2023.
Solid outlook for M&A deals
Last year, several high-profile M&A deals emerged and the trend appears to continue this year as well. In May, Northmarq announced its merger with Morrison Street Capital, allowing the firm to expand its services into the investment management and advisory sectors. In that same deal, Northmarq also acquired NBS Real Estate Consulting, an affiliate of Morrison Street Capital.
According to Tim Bodner, global real estate deals leader at PwC, there is a trend in the brokerage space toward consolidation of a very fragmented ecosystem. The most important factors driving this trend are the scale of the firm and its product offerings, diversity of product mix and scope, along with filling geographic gaps, Bodner told CPE.