A bi-coastal commercial investment feud ended last month when Manhattan-based Eastdil Realty announced it will acquire longtime competitor Secured Capital Corporation, headquartered in Los Angeles. The new company, to be formed when the transaction is completed early next year, will be called Eastdil Secured.
Eastdil parent Wells Fargo & Company announced the acquisition in early November with obvious glee, as the subsumed rival only expands Eastdil’s already nationwide reach: “Their combined expertise will cover every capital investment transaction business line and every product type in the institutional commercial real estate industry,” said David Hoyt, senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo’s Wholesale Banking Group.
The privately held Secured Capital has completed more than 500 transactions totaling more than $67 billion since 1998, including investment property sales, institutional property financings, mortgage loan sales, and investment banking services. Eastdil completed more than 500 transactions totaling $95 billion during the same time period.
Together, Secured and Eastdil will close transactions of about $60 billion this year, signifying the type of volume the two real estate investment houses may move as a combined company.
In the new Eastdil Secured, the executive committee will include current Eastdil CEO Ben Lambert as chairman, and current Secured Capital CEO Michael Von Konynenburg as president. A Wells Fargo spokesperson told The Real Deal that the company would not comment on specifics of the deal, including how long the two competitors were in negotiations.