CRE Brokers Poised To Cash In On Expected Wave Of Corporate Mergers

With many analysts predicting a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions throughout American boardrooms in 2026, commercial real estate stands to gain as consulting and portfolio management gigs help new megacorporations rightsize their spaces. 

Bankers and investors predict 2026 may be a banner year for M&A activity. A combination of a light regulatory touch from the Trump administration, increased private equity activity and tax cuts creating more cash-flush companies sets up the conditions for more big deals.

“The dynamics of the policy changes that have occurred in the last year-plus since the Trump administration are certainly changing how organizations look at the viability of acquisition targets,” JLL Chief Operating Officer of Work Dynamics Cheryl Carron said.

CRE experts from larger brokerages and service firms can spend years before and after a deal closes helping firms navigate cultural transitions, workspace redesigns and the shrinking of combined real estate portfolios.

The buzzy expected merger of Warner Bros. with either Netflix or Paramount may be the most well-known example today, but merger markets have hummed for months. American M&A activity was up 45% last year, including deals such as the $2.4B merger of Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods, with megadeals over $10B up 74%. 

So far this year, Eli Lilly has announced a planned $1.2B acquisition of fellow drugmaker Ventyx, and discount air carrier Allegiant Airlines said it wants to buy Sun Country. 

Last year saw a record number of $30B-plus tie-ups between firms, and Bloomberg expects more of the same across numerous sectors in 2026, with banks “willing to bankroll transformational mergers,” especially in media, energy, finance and healthcare. 

A recent Goldman Sachs report predicts another strong M&A cycle this year, noting “‘dream deals’ are increasingly defining the global M&A landscape as industry leaders look to acquire new capabilities.”  

Technology, specifically artificial intelligence, is expected to play a big role in these corporate fusions, according to the Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs analyses. In addition to possibly opening up new opportunities for acquisitions, AI could become a larger factor in resulting cuts in headcount and real estate after two companies merge.

“The big elephant in the room is obviously artificial intelligence, right?” said John Boyd Jr., principal of The Boyd Co. “There’s always opportunities for companies to streamline redundant office staff and real estate. AI is really changing what office space looks like.”

There’s no hard rule about how much space is cut when companies pair up. Every merger means different calculations around office space and potential retail locations, as well as any logistics real estate or networks that need to be combined. 

But there are some issues that most of these deals need to confront: retaining workforce, figuring out the politically tricky question of how multiple headquarters may get combined, and making sure rightsizing and realigning a real estate portfolio don't alter any job creation promises that came with financial incentives. 

Merging companies need to hammer out a transition service agreement, or TSA, which lays out how to carve out parts of particular properties or which sites can't be touched. 

The sale, disposition and repositioning of assets also needs to happen relatively fast. Real estate decisions need to be finalized within 18 months after an M&A is complete or inertia sets in, JLL’s Carron said. After that, people get tired of transformation, and it gets difficult to achieve the kinds of success and cultural change necessary to bring together two companies. 

Brokers focus on two separate phases of a merger, starting with what’s called the integration management office, which coordinates legal, technological, workforce and real estate issues during the due diligence phase of a potential merger, CBRE Consulting Managing Director Trey Wales said.

Then, after the deal is closed, brokers make determinations about the need to lease, sell and reorganize the now-combined real estate portfolio. 

Consultants need to factor in workforce issues similar to the way site selection teams help determine where to locate new offices, including where the talent will be or is willing to move to.

In certain markets, rising leasing costs can also factor in. For a location in Miami, where office rents have risen steadily since the pandemic, it might make sense to consider how efficiently space is used, said Tere Blanca, founder and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate in South Florida.

“It used to be that I paid $65 a square foot, and now it’s $160 a square foot, so everyone becomes a bit more aware of the opportunities that might exist to become efficient as the cost of occupancy increases,” she said.

Increasingly sophisticated demographic modeling and data can help figure out the best way to rightsize a company’s assets. With the cost of construction rising for new office space, it's imperative to figure out how to use existing space or focus on leasing options, Wales said.

This process can include factoring in the impacts of AI. Many firms are pivoting toward AI, in terms of integrating it into business models or investing in tech and data center assets, or thinking about how AI might be used to reduce their office footprint, Wales said. 

However, expecting AI to shrink office space after a merger is “a leap too far,” according to Carron. There are many variables, and even changing an office to have more collaborative space for a smaller workforce may take up the same footprint. It’s part of the wider challenge of figuring out how to reconfigure space to meet a company’s financial and cultural goals. 

“You can’t just put a percentage on how much space tends to get lost because there are so many factors driving that,” Carron said. “Sometimes, you can’t exit a property because, culturally speaking, it’ll disrupt everything.”