Eastdil Hires Allianz’s Head of Acquisitions and Equity Investments
The brokerage recruited Gary Phillips reportedly as its parent company, Wells Fargo, tries to sell Eastdil.
NEW YORK CITY—Previously the head of acquisitions and equity investments at Allianz Real Estate of America, Gary Phillips, is joining Eastdil Secured this month. He was brought on as a managing director focusing on equity sales and capital markets. The Wall Street Journal reported this was “a move that could bolster the broker as its parent company Wells Fargo & Co. weighs a sale of Eastdil.”
Wells Fargo has been in negotiations to sell the real estate firm for more than a year. The WSJ wrote that Eastdil’s chief executive Roy March had taken over these efforts. The Real Deal reported in August that the California-based bank was shopping the brokerage at private equity firms. The publication referenced by analogy how TPG bought Cushman & Wakefield in 2015 for approximately $2 billion.
A press release about Phillips’ new position made no mention of the status of efforts to sell Eastdil. Roy March, CEO of Eastdil Secured stated “Gary brings a strong set of skills to our firm and we expect him to not only have an immediate impact on the firm’s activities in New York, but also to assist in strategically strengthening our equity sales and joint venture practice across the US. Gary’s capital market experience will be of great assistance in providing even stronger service to our clients.”
Phillips commented he was attracted to the team-oriented culture, the professionals at the firm and the opportunity to grow the business with its industry recognized platinum brand.
Phillips received a bachelor of business administration from George Washington University. He began his career in 2000 as a real estate analyst then research analyst at Deutsche Bank. He then worked at Clarion Partners as a VP, acquisitions, before becoming a managing director at Allianz.
Multiple news accounts including the WSJ report Eastdil suffered with the 2016 departure of the brokerage team led by Doug Harmon and Adam Spies who moved to Cushman & Wakefield. The Real Deal‘s Top 40 NYC Investment Sales Firms chart showed in 2017, after they left, Eastdil’s total dollar volume fell to $2.73 billion, down 88% year-over-year from 2016. In May of this year, four industry veterans in Eastdil’s hotel team left to join Newark Knight Frank. Industry sources have commented that Eastdil needs to take some action.
Martha Wallau, COO and managing director at Eastdil, tells GlobeSt.com the firm is pleased that Phillips is joining their team in New York but they are unable to comment on inquiries about how his hiring relates to Wells Fargo’s efforts to sell Eastdil or to provide additional information concerning marketing the brokerage.