CRE Tech Merger Sends ‘A Very Positive Signal’

“These aren’t little companies anymore,” says Kubiak.

NEW YORK CITY—“Real Estate Tech Companies VTS and Hightower to Merge in $300 Million Deal,” proclaimed the Wall Street Journal. “Lease Management Platforms VTS and Hightower Join Forces,” CRE.Tech trumpeted in giant type. “CRE Tech Firms VTS, Hightower to Merge,” GlobeSt.com reported. Announced on Tuesday, the combination of two of commercial real estate’s biggest leasing and asset management platforms was headline news in a way that wouldn’t have been the case a couple of years ago.

To Riggs Kubiak, whose Honest Buildings is a peer—but, with a different focus than the two merged companies, not a competitor—to VTS and Hightower, “I think it sends a very positive signal” about the traction that the tech sector has achieved, in that the two companies would be combining forces as well as planning to expand globally. “Between them, both companies have billions of square feet in their platforms,” Kubiak tells GlobeSt.com. “The fact that they have continued to grow quickly and now have an opportunity to grow in the same direction rather than compete against one another is a very positive sign for the industry, and I think the result will be an even stronger product” with more value for owners.