SANTA ANA, CA-Grubb & Ellis Co. has agreed to sell its 51% stake in Alesco Global Advisors to Lazard Asset Management, a key step toward the sale of its Daymark Realty Advisors subsidiary, the Santa Ana-based company said this morning. The sale of Daymark, in turn, is considered a key to a possible sale of Grubb & Ellis.

Alesco is the real estate investment fund business of Grubb & Ellis, which acquired its stake in the company through the Daymark subsidiary in 2007. Alesco focuses on real estate securities and manages three registered mutual funds.

Grubb & Ellis president and CEO Thomas D’Arcy, in a statement this morning, said that the agreement to sell Alesco "is a positive step forward in the sale of Daymark Realty Advisors, which is a key part of our plan." He said that Alesco's fund manager, Jay Leupp, "will benefit from having access to the scale and resources of Lazard Asset Management, one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms.”