NEW YORK CITY-It’s official: the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the sale of BGC Partners Inc. to acquire substantially all the assets of Grubb & Ellis, according to a court order filed on March 27. As a result, BGC expects to close the transaction shortly, the company says in a statement directly after the filing.

According to the order, the court ruled that the sale is “a valid exercise of the debtors’ business judgment” and considered the sale process as “fair, robust and pursued in good faith.” The fusion of the two companies will give Newmark Knight Frank and Grubb & Ellis more than 250 million square feet of property, 100 offices in North America and facilities management, as well as national appraisal business, says a statement from BGC.

The action comes after Grubb canceled a bankruptcy auction and approved bidding procedures and a $30 million stalking horse contract from BGC, GlobeSt.com previously reported. Grubb filed for bankruptcy pursuant to chapter 11 on Feb. 20, following a thorough and rigorous process and the evaluation of all available options. After filing for bankruptcy protection and signing an agreement with BGC on Feb. 21, the company planned to operate its business as a debtor-in-possession and implemented the transaction as an asset sale under Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code.