A private company with more than 520 employees in five cities, LePage has operations in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and affiliate offices in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Atlantic Canada. The firm has been owned by Brookfield Asset Management--currently Brascan Corp.--since 1984. It was founded in 1913.
This transaction excludes the Royal LePage residential network, which Brookfield Asset Management manages under the Royal LePage Franchise Services Fund, and the Brascan Financial Real Estate Group, which is also owned and operated by Brookfield Asset Management.
"This is such an important strategic decision," said Bruce Mosler, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, during a conference call on the merger. "The word strategic is often overused. In this case, it can't be overemphasized. This makes C&W the dominant player in North America." He added that Cushman approached LePage about merging soon after he took office in January.
"This merger is a watershed in the history of our two great firms," adds Colum Bastable, president and CEO of Royal LePage Commercial. "It is no surprise given our synergies and the pressures of globalization that we have made this decision." Bastable will remain president and CEO of the merged firm. He says new services, such as asset services, will come on line in Canada, as LePage aligns itself to Cushman & Wakefield service platform. Cushman has 189 offices in 57 countries.
No price was given. "We can comment on price," Mosler said. Revenue figures for the privately held Royal LePage also were not revealed, but Bastable said they increased 21% over the last year.
"The sale of Royal LePage Commercial enables us to surface value for shareholders and provides the Commercial group with the opportunity for continued growth and success on a global basis as part of the expanding Cushman & Wakefield franchise," says Sam Pollock, president, Brascan Investments.
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