David Ellis, CBRE's senior vice president, corporate services for Canada and Latin America, tells GlobeSt.com that had a very "decentralized real estate business model" that was creating a "tremendous burden on management and caused missed opportunities. They recently decided to bring on management because it made sense."

At this point, there is no clear business objective other than to examine the portfolio. "Our task over the forthcoming months will be to complete a strategic review of Alcan's property holdings in order to put in place a plan that best enhances shareholder value and operating efficiency for our divisions," notes Frank Capozzolo, director corporate real estate and insurance for Alcan.

Ellis points out that the firm will examine the portfolio as a whole and "proactively deal with individual transactions such as lease renewals and look toward making longer term strategic decisions."