Dealmakers couldn't be reached by press time due to the National Multi-Family Housing Conference being held in Boca Raton, FL. In this morning's press release, Riverstone says the combined companies are creating the largest independently owned third-party property services in the US. Riverstone, headquartered in Dallas and Rockville, MD, is a subsidiary of Consolidated American Services Inc., the US property management arm for UK-based Regis Capital Ltd. Its network consists of 23 divisional offices and 4,300 associates.

Dan Shaw, RMI's CEO, says the company has been approached many times in the past to partner with others. "But until now we never found the right fit that benefited both the business and our clients," he says in the release.

According to RMI's website, it acquires and partners with developers. Whether Riverstone intends to incorporate that into its model is one of the unanswered questions.