Colliers Expands Investment Management Footprint

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Just months after acquiring a 65 percent stake in Rockwood Capital, CRE services powerhouse Colliers continues expanding its investment management business with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Versus Capital, a leading U.S. alternative real asset management firm with more than $6 billion of assets under management. Berkshire Global Advisors acted as financial advisor to Versus.

With the closing of both transactions, Colliers’ investment management operations will oversee about $87 billion in assets under management. Jay Hennick, chairman & CEO of Colliers, said in a prepared statement almost $70 billion of the AUM will be either perpetual or long-dated strategies, which will further strengthen the firm’s future recurring revenues. Financial terms of both deals were not disclosed.

Seeded in June

In June, Colliers announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 75 percent ownership interest in Versus, a Denver-based company that offers alternative real asset investment solutions through actively managed, perpetual-life funds that have consistently produced attractive investment returns over time. The balance of the ownership is being retained by Versus’ co-founders and senior leadership team, who will continue to lead the business under Colliers’ perpetual partnership model that provides long-term alignment and stability for investors. All non-active shareholders sold 100 percent of their interests in the firm. Founded in 2010, Versus specializes in real estate, infrastructure, farmland and timberland investments in public and private markets.

The Versus-related announcement came one week before the investment in Rockwood, a leading U.S. real estate investment management firm with more than $12 billion of assets under management, was completed. Rockwood engages in equity and credit investments across multifamily, office, mixed-use, life science, hospitality and retail properties in North America. It also invests across the capital stack through a series of closed-end value-add, core/core-plus, credit and long-term development vehicles. When the purchase was announced, Zach Michaud, Colliers’ co-chief investment officer, said in prepared remarks the partnership would expand the Canadian-based company’s operations in the U.S. and add several new asset classes and strategies, including capabilities in the growing real estate credit space.