CHICAGO—Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp. said Tuesday that Brett White, formerly CEO of CBRE Group, had resigned as a member of ACRE's board of directors this past Thursday. The move was in preparation for White's assumption of duties at what Chicago-based ACRE describes as “a large real estate services company.”

That company, of course, is DTZ, now owned by a consortium led by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and combined with Cassidy Turley. White, who also invested in the acquisition, is due to become executive chairman at DTZ in March.

White had been a director of ACRE since April 2013 and also served as a member of its audit committe. ”Brett's leadership, perspective, and extensive experience in the real estate industry have meaningfully benefited our company,” says Todd Schuster, ACRE's president and CEO. “While we are disappointed he can no longer serve on our board, we wish Brett well in his new role and hope that we can continue to work together in the future.”

For his part, White says, “I will miss serving on ACRE's board of directors and remain confident that ACRE is moving in the right direction in the hands of a talented board and management team.” White served as CBRE's CEO from 2005 until 2012 and as its president from 2001 until 2010. During that time, he presided over three transformational acquisitions at the company: Insignia/ESG in 2003, Trammell Crow Co. in 2006 and ING REIM in 2011.