LOS ANGELES—Lee & Associates has formed a strategic alliance with UK-based brokerage house Gerald Eve to service clients in the UK and Western Europe. The move is part of the firm's ongoing expansion efforts. The alliance between the two firms is a friendly partnership, and not a merger. As such, each firm will retain their name and branding and will operate independently.

“This is really about our footprint and creating enough scale and size that we can service our growing US client base and have access to all of the professionals in the UK and throughout Europe through the Gerald Eve network,” Jeff Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates, tells GlobeSt.com. “I think Lee is transitioning from being that local market company with a national footprint to being a company that can service multi-market companies, not only in the US and North America, but also in the UK and Western Europe.”

Gerald Eve and Lee & Associates share a similar partnership business model where employees can earn an equity stake in the business. Rinkov says that the firm has considered finding a European partner, but had not found a good fit until now. “We are so similar to Gerald Eve in a number of ways, both in our ownership structure, financial structure and in our entrepreneurial approach to business and our diversity of product type,” he says. “There had not been an opportunity like the one we have with Gerald Eve.”

Similarly, Gerald Eve had also been looking for an American partner for several years, recognizing that London is often considered a gateway city to Western Europe for the US. As a result, the firm has developed a strong business throughout UK and in primary Western European markets by recruiting seasoned brokers that were attracted to their partnership model.

Gerald Eve was also attracted to Lee because of their shared culture and business model, as well as Lee's foothold in several major US markets. “Partner selection is really important for us and the cultural fit is really important for us,” Simon Prichard, a senior partner at Gerald Eve, tells GlobeSt.com. “That is why we like Lee, because we like the partnership model; we like the debt-free model; we like the fact that there are no strings and no shareholder interest in decisions. The challenge is that you have to have full time professionals making the commitment, so we have invested quite heavily in professionals to maintain the relationship.” Lee has done the same, committing a broker in New York and another in Atlanta to act a liaison for the partnership.

In addition to its new international reach, Lee & Associates is continuing its expansion plans in specific geographic US markets.