NEW YORK CITY-Many in the real estate community were thrown for a loop when C-III Capital Partners LLC entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Princeton, NJ-based NAI Global last week. But Andrew L. Farkas’ latest vision to create the largest network of independent commercial real estate firms worldwide is a sign that the role of special servicers is rising--and smaller firms are latching onto bigger platforms, capital markets sources tell GlobeSt.com.

Sandy Monaghan, managing director of the Capital Markets Group at Cushman & Wakefield, says the recent announcement is consistent with a recent trend within the CMBS special servicing sector. C-III, and many other private equity firms, first made strategic acquisitions within the commercial mortgage loan servicing business in early 2010, as the number of underperforming loans being transferred to the special servicers was steadily increasing, he explains.

“More recently, as the inventory of underperforming loans and REO assets available for sale has increased, and market conditions and property values have begun to recover, these same firms have begun to either form brokerage teams or acquire brokerage firms to assist with the sale of these assets,” Monaghan says.