Insignia Completes $45.6 Mil Groupe Bourdais Buy

NEW YORK CITY-Insignia Financial Group Inc. has completed its planned acquisition of French real estate services firm Groupe Bourdais. The deal has a maximum potential value of $45.6 million.

The structure of the deal has changed slightly since August, when Insignia first revealed its intention to purchase the French firm. The current structure of the transaction includes $17.8 million in cash and stock to be paid up front and $27.8 million in performance-based payments to be made over three years. Originally, the initial cash outlay was set at $30.74 million with the installments totaling up to roughly $19 million.

The change, which reflects a decrease in the initial payment and an increase in the performance-based component of the deal, takes into account the global economic slowdown and its effects on real estate.

When Insignia chairman and CEO Andrew L. Farkas discussed the deal with GlobeSt.com in August, he said Paris-based Groupe Bourdais would give Insignia “a market-leading position in one of Europe’s other primary financial headquarters,” in addition to its New York, Hong Kong and Mexico City operations.

“We’ve been working on this deal for years,” Farkas said. “We have targeted them and, frankly, they have targeted us and we’ve been working on it for quite some time.”

Jean-Claude Bourdais, company chairman, will join Insignia’s executive committee and European operations board, and Groupe Bourdais will be rechristened Insignia Bourdais. Alan Froggatt, CEO of Insignia’s European initiatives, will run the French operation.

The 47-year-old French firm employs 350 staff in eight offices, five in the Paris metro area as well as regional facilities in Lyon, Aix and Marseille. The company’s revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31 were $44.6 million, up 17.5% from 2000. It has a 20% share of France’s office leasing and tenant rep market.