Ackman-Ziff acquires RM Capital Management

RM Capital was 14th in TRD's 2016 mortgage brokerage ranking

Romano Tio, Simon Ziff and Marc Sznajderman
Romano Tio, Simon Ziff and Marc Sznajderman

Ackman-Ziff Real Estate [TRDataCustom] has acquired RM Capital Management, a boutique-sized commercial real estate investment and brokerage firm. The acquisition amount was not disclosed.

Like Ackman-Ziff, RM Capital is one of the most active commercial mortgage brokerages in the city. Romano Tio and Marc Sznajderman founded the company in 2009, and by 2016 it was the 14th largest mortgage broker by dollar volume, according to The Real Deal‘s annual mortgage broker rankings. RM Capital claims its principals have completed more than $10 billion in capital markets transactions. In January, it arranged a $58 million financing deal that will allow Reading International to expand the Union Square Theatre. Other recent financings include a $26 million bridge loan for a residential project at 34 East 62nd Street and an $11 million construction loan for a townhouse in Boerum Hill. The firm is also active in South Florida.

Tio and Sznajderman will join Ackman-Ziff as senior managing directors and Robert “Bo” Diamond will join as a director. The deal could make Ackman-Ziff, already the fifth-biggest mortgage brokerage by deal volume in TRD‘s 2016 ranking, more competitive with rivals like Cushman & Wakefield.

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Simon Ziff, president of Ackman-Ziff, said the acquisition of RM Capital was part of a strategic initiative to add senior-level talent to the firm.

To expand investment sales and other transaction focuses like debt and equity, Ackman-Ziff in January hired Evan Denner, the co-founder of merchant banking firm Lauderhill Partners. Ackman-Ziff was number 20 on TRD’s 2015 ranking of investment sales firms with $458 million in sales.

It was not so long ago that Ackman-Ziff itself was being courted by larger firms. In 2014, Ziff told TRD that he had turned down offers from CBRE and Cushman in the past.