Broll Affiliates With CB Richard Ellis

JOHANNESBURG-Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis has extended its reach in South Africa through a new affiliation agreement with Broll, a locally based property services firm with 650 employees. The new company will trade under the name Broll in association with CB Richard Ellis and will acquire CBRE’s existing South Africa affiliate.Broll is a top property management and services firm in South Africa, with more than 75 million sf under management and seven office locations. The firm specializes in retail mall management, with 92 such properties in its purview. The company’s transaction business is 98% involved with office, commercial and industrial business. The company has gross revenues in the range of rand 380 million ($65 million).Broll’s two shareholders are Catalyst Holdings, the Cape Town-based listed property securities and property finance company, and Mvelaphanda Holdings. Mvelaphanda, a conglomerate headed by former Gauteng Province Premier Tokio Sexwale, has interests in mining, energy, health services, financial services and property and is a leading black empowerment company.Neither Broll chairman Jonathan Broll nor CBRE’s chief executive for the EMEA (European, Middle East and Africa) Region Alan Froggatt could be reached for comment. In a prepared statement, Broll says the affiliation with a globally recognized brand will have “considerable strategic benefits…as we expand across the rest of Africa” and Froggatt says the partnership will “improve our ability to service capital flows to South Africa.”In October 2002, Insignia announced the planned formation of an affiliation with Broll in South Africa, however, this move was suspended when the merger talks between CBRE and Insignia Financial Group came to fruition in February 2003.