BETHESDA, MD—Walker & Dunlop has acquired Engler Financial Group, a regional investment sales brokerage firm based in Alpharetta, GA, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is part of a larger plan by W&D to provide as many strategic offerings to its clients as possible, including, now, the ability to tie in financing with an investment sales opportunity.
Up until recently W&D had partnerships with Cushman & Wakefield and Apartment Realty Advisors, CEO Willy Walker tells GlobeSt.com. The latter "was great" for W&D but it ended with the firm's acquisition by BGC Partners late last year. At that point, W&D started thinking about an acquisition.
Engler Financial Group is a great fit, Walker says. The company has a strong foothold in the southeastern U.S. states and plans call for the platform to expand nationwide. Walker declined to say how long that would take, other than to note in 2012 the company declared it would build out a national capital markets group and it promptly went on to meet that goal. "We have shown in the past that when we say we will build a national platform we do it," he says.
The acquisition comes as the broker industry is in consolidation mode, a trend highlighted by ARA's acquisition along with a slew of others.
Walker, though, says this deal is not a defensive play, but rather an offensive move. "Investment sales are an important part of the equation in the real estate financing space."
Walker & Dunlop does not expect the transaction to have a material impact on its second quarter financial results but expects the transaction to be accretive in 2015. The acquisition was structured as an asset purchase.
Separately, W&D announced that Howard Smith, EVP and COO, has been promoted to president.
Smith has been with the company for 34 years, holding a number of different roles. The promotion was long in coming, Walker says.
"This promotion is a reflection not only of his past accomplishments but also of the work he continues to do."
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
