Cb Richard Ellis Company

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world's biggest commercial real estate firm, agreed Tuesday to buy rival Trammell Crow Co. for $1.8 billion in cash in a deal that would boost its business catering to blue-chip companies. The deal signals a consolidation trend among commercial real estate firms, as top players seek to get bigger and offer more services amid a booming office and industrial property market, analysts said.

The long-running torment of the commercial real estate industry dragged on in the third quarter, but the world's largest brokerage of office buildings, warehouses and other business properties managed to eke out a small profit. CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. reported net income of $12.4 million, or 4 cents a share, after spending the first two quarters of the year in the red. However, profit was down 69% from $40.4 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same period last year. The Los Angeles company posted adjusted earnings of 8 cents a share after deducting one-time charges mostly related to cost-cutting measures.

Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis Inc., the world's largest real estate company, said Monday that Chief Operating Officer Ray Wirta will replace Jim Didion as chief executive. Didion, 59, will remain as chairman of the brokerage and property management company, overseeing the company's global strategy and relations with existing clients. The COO position will be eliminated and Brett White, who now heads CB's brokerage division, will become chairman of its North American operations.

Amid continuing turmoil in the market for commercial real estate, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said Wednesday that it had lost money in the second quarter. The Los Angeles company, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage, said it had a net loss of $6.6 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a profit of $16.6 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue was down 27% to $955.6 million.

CB Richard Ellis Services Inc., one of the world's largest real estate services companies, is starting a business that offers its clients discounts on everything from office furniture to computers. The move is an attempt by the Los Angeles-based company to capture a bigger market share amid a wave of consolidation in the property brokerage and management industry. CB Richard Ellis has formed alliances with more than 20 major companies, including Staples Inc., Dell Computer Corp. and Xerox Corp.

The owner of Chicago's Sears Tower, the tallest building in North America, will end its agreement with CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. as the building's management and leasing agent at the end of the year. The Sears Tower's ownership group is interviewing brokerage firms to handle the account. Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis, which last month agreed to buy Trammel Crow Co. for $1.9 billion, will remain the leasing agent until a new one is hired.

Three prominent Los Angeles commercial real estate brokers have left CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. to join Madison Partners and create a full-service boutique real estate firm. Hunt Barnett, Rick Buckley and Chris Houge, who have been involved in some of Southern California's biggest real estate transactions in recent years, resigned from CB Richard Ellis on Tuesday.

Faced with a slowdown in commercial property sales and leasing, Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis Services Inc. on Wednesday said its second-quarter results would be 50% below Wall Street estimates, spurring the huge real estate services and brokerage firm to reorganize and lay off managers.

CB Richard Ellis Inc., the world's largest real estate services company, said it has agreed to merge its business in Japan with Ikoma Corp. The merger with Osaka-based Ikoma, which has 21 offices, would expand CB Richard Ellis' presence in Japan and give it a stronger foothold for Asian operations. The merged entity would be 80% owned by Ikoma and 20% by Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis. Other terms were not disclosed. Ikoma's President Tatsumi Hanaya would head the merged companies.

CB Richard Ellis has opened a new office in Lancaster to serve the Antelope Valley and has named industrial brokers Chuck Hoey and Lenny Dance to staff the office. The company formerly handled Antelope Valley business from its Bakersfield office but needs the new office because of growth in the Antelope Valley, said Vince Roche, a vice president in the Bakersfield office.

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world's largest commercial property brokerage, borrowed $450 million Thursday at a steep interest rate as part of the firm's effort to stay solvent in the most punishing real estate market in decades. The Los Angeles-based company raised the money by selling new bonds. It is using the proceeds, along with $150 million that it raised last week by selling new common stock, to help pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in loans coming due this year and next.

Commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. on Wednesday reported its first loss since it went public nearly five years ago, capping months of difficulty in the depressed property market. The Los Angeles company said it had a net loss of $36.7 million, or 14 cents a share, in the first quarter compared with a profit of $20.4 million, or 10 cents, in the same period in 2008. Revenue was down 28% to $890 million.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) offered to help secure federal funds for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. days before the agency awarded a contract to her husband's company in the housing foreclosure crisis. On Oct. 30, Feinstein expressed backing for FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair's proposal to stem home foreclosures through the use of federal bailout funds for the agency.

The chief executive for Los Angeles commercial real estate services company CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. saw his total compensation for 2008 fall 45% after he declined a performance-based bonus. CEO Brett White's total compensation fell to $3.3 million from about $6.1 million the year before, according to an Associated Press calculation based on a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

International commercial real estate services giant CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., which has been thrashed by the dismal real estate market and prolonged credit freeze, has gotten a break from its bankers, the company said Tuesday. CB Richard Ellis renegotiated its credit agreement with dozens of lenders, it said. Under the new agreements, the company may now experience a further decrease in revenue without triggering violations of the terms of its loans.

Battered by falling sales and leasing activity, international commercial real estate brokerage company CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. reported a 94% drop in profit during the fourth quarter Tuesday but still managed to beat Wall Street's expectations. The Los Angeles company said it had net income of $6.5 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with $122.4 million or 54 cents, in the same period a year ago. Revenue was down 30% to $1.3 billion.

Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. reported fourth-quarter profit of $66.4 million, or 88 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $10.1 million, or 16 cents, in the final quarter of 2003. The real estate services company generated revenue of $798.2 million, up 28.5% from a year earlier. For the full year, the company reported a profit of $64.7 million, or 91 cents a share, contrasted with a net loss of $34.7 million, or 68 cents, for the previous year.

Shares of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. jumped 43% on Thursday after the world's largest real estate broker raised about $180 million in a secondary stock sale. The company, based in Los Angeles, sold 50 million Class A shares at $3.77 each, according to a statement issued Wednesday. CB Richard Ellis had abandoned plans to raise $300 million to $400 million through the private sale of convertible preferred stock.

Shares of CB Richard Ellis Inc., the world's largest real estate brokerage, fell 23% on Tuesday to near a four-year low after the Los Angeles company dropped plans to raise money through a private offering and instead sell more shares to the public. In a document filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the brokerage said discussions with private investors intended to raise as much as $400 million didn't pan out and were terminated.