CB Richard Ellis to buy most of ING’s real estate unit for $940M

CB Richard Ellis has reached a deal to acquire the majority of Dutch pension company ING’s real estate unit for $940 million in cash, the company announced today, confirming last month’s reports that CBRE was a front-runner for the portfolio amongst bidders like Vornado Realty Trust and Jones Lang LaSalle. Among the businesses CBRE will be taking over are ING Real Estate Investment Management’s Europe and Asia operations and Clarion Real Estate Securities. The units, which have combined assets under management totaling $59.8 billion, will be folded into CBRE Investors after the deals close in the second half of 2011, pending approval by stakeholders and regulatory agencies. CBRE Investors managed $37.6 billion in assets as of the end of last year. TRD