BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), the Manhattan-based brokerage firm that owns Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF), is buying Cornish & Carey Commercial, one of the last regional independent real estate firms and a major player in Northern California commercial real estate. The firm will operate as Newmark Cornish & Carey following the transaction, which is expected to close by mid-2014. Financial details were not disclosed.