Business News and Information

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBG), the world's largest commercial real estate broker, will acquire rival Trammell Crow Co. (TCC) in a $2.2 billion deal that will more than double its current property management business.

CB Richard Ellis, one of the most prominent real estate firms in Washington, manages 22 million square feet of space in the Washington area including the lease on one of the Watergate office buildinds as well as leasing for Northrup Grumman Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and General Dynamics Corp. (GD).

Trammell Crow builds, buys and sells properties, and manages buildings and oversees refurbishing for customers such as Ford Motor Co. (F), American Express Company (AXP), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), as reported in this WashingtonPost.com article.

This deal follows a trend of the past few years of clients trying to be more efficient with buying, selling and leasing office space. CB Richard Ellis paid $415 million of Insignia Financial Group Inc. of New York. Jones Lang Lasalle Inc. (JLL) of Chicago recently bought Spaulding & Slye Colliers of Boston.

Read more about the deal here.