Tenant-focused commercial real estate firm Cresa acquired Fischer, a Dallas-based national advisor, in a move that adds two new U.S. offices and more than 100 employees to its business.
Chicago-based Cresa, a business that touts itself as the world's largest tenant-centric commercial real estate firm, bought Fischer for an undisclosed sum. In the deal, Fischer's executive leadership team, including Cliff Fischer, Ted Uzelac and Chris Joyner, are all joining Cresa as managing principals. Cliff Fischer, who served as chairman of Fischer, will serve on Cresa's board of directors.
This is Cresa's biggest acquisition to date with the firm adding "the largest standalone tenant-rep business we know of" to its North American platform, Cresa CEO Tod Lickerman told CoStar News.
"We've always admired them," Lickerman said. "It was a really great fit and very complementary to our business. Like us, they are tenant rep only and there's an art to it in its own way. We like their people, their leadership and we like the type of work they do. They also bring a technology platform that we like a lot."
The deal is expected to position Cresa for its long-term growth, the firm said, adding two U.S. offices in Pittsburgh and Memphis where it previously didn't have a presence.
Fischer and its 110 employees across multiple offices are being rolled into the Cresa business, which now has 52 offices in North America and about 1,300 employees. Fischer's North Dallas office and former headquarters along the Dallas North Tollway will become a Cresa office, with Cresa's logo expected to replace Fischer sign in the near future, Lickerman said.
COVID-19 recovery
"Our business is doing very well," Lickerman said. "We all had a COVID pullback, but our business responded sharply after COVID. Our 2021 was better than our 2019 and that was our best year at that time. We recovered in a year and have been growing ever since.
"The larger shops have taken more years to get to their pre-COVID levels, but once tenants got back to decision making and understanding the health of their businesses, they got back to work resizing their portfolios."
The Fischer addition brings its technology platforms, ManagePath and Visual Manager, customized for tenant representation, to Cresa. The firm plans to continue to invest in this proprietary technology.
Unlike other tenant rep firms, Lickerman said Fischer's business has fewer but larger clients, with a national team that addresses a portfolio of business. He declined to disclose client names.
Gary Gregg, chairman of Cresa, said in a statement that both companies share the same mission, with the combination expected to "deliver even greater value to our clients" through "expanded capabilities and geographic reach."
This is only the latest acquisition made by Cresa in the past 18 months to bolster its services, with the addition of two Houston advisory firms, a project management firm and a Detroit tenant advisory firm being among the new recruits, as CoStar News has reported.
Fischer was founded in 1985 by Cliff Fischer and Gail Fischer, who is no longer associated with the brokerage. The firm was one of the first to couple tenant brokerage services with software development services for corporate real estate executives.
Cliff Fischer said in the statement that he's "delighted to be taking this next step in our company's history and uniting with a firm whose core values mirror our own."
Meanwhile, Cresa's business with the addition of Fischer is expected to be a boon for the firm. Year-to-date, Cresa is on track to have its "best year ever," Lickerman said.
The deal "underscores the health of the occupier side" of the real estate industry, he added, with North American tenants in healthy "decision making and growth" mode that is illustrated by solid demand.