Eastdil Secured is looking for suitors, but not to sell.
The global brokerage and commercial real estate services firm hired consultants from BDT & MSD Partners to advise on potential new partnerships and growth initiatives.
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Eastdil’s executive committee told senior staff that it had enlisted the merchant bank and advisory firm with headquarters in Chicago and New York for advice as it works to “best position the firm for an environment of accelerating transactions,” Bloomberg reported.
The executive committee said that it was not looking to sell the firm. Senior leaders also moved this month to shore up its brokerage roster by offering more than 130 directors and managing directors a $1M bonus if they agreed to stay on for the next five years, The Real Deal reported.
It’s not known how many senior staffers accepted the offer, which itself was an unusual move for Eastdil. The firm’s board had previously taken the position that its brokers should want to work for Eastdil and shouldn’t need to be enticed by large incentive packages, an anonymous source familiar with the company told TRD.
Eastdil and BDT & MSD didn’t respond to Bisnow’s request for comment Friday morning.
Eastdil has roughly 600 staff globally, with a headquarters in New York and offices in Dallas, Dublin and Miami that have opened since 2019. It is looking to continue that global expansion, focusing on Asia, and is weighing whether to open offices in Japan and Australia, a source familiar with the plans told Bloomberg.
The real estate services firm is backed by Guggenheim Investments, Wells Fargo and Temasek, a state-owned investment firm from Singapore. A memo to staff said these investors support the plan, according to Bloomberg.
“We are certain that this initiative will further solidify Eastdil Secured as the premier real estate investment banking firm,” the memo said.
The company was recapitalized in 2019 at a valuation of more than $400M. Executives believe it could be worth as much as $2B today, the source told Bloomberg.
Eastdil has provided advisory services for more than $200B worth of transactions on an annualized basis, and its current pipeline is around $250B, including $100B tied to digital infrastructure like data centers, the source said.
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