Cushman & Wakefield has bought Chicago-based firm JF McKinney + Associates, which specialises in office leasing.
JF McKinney + Associates is the most active firm in the city, and is retained on behalf of 16m sq ft of space. The deal is expected to close before 30 April.
The company is led by president and founder Jack McKinney, who will become vice chairman, responsible for leading the Chicago agency leasing practice. He will also be part of Cushman & Wakefield’s national leadership to focus on expanding the agency leasing business and its relationships with institutional clients.
Ed Forst, president and chief executive of Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Building a relationship with Jack McKinney and learning about the culture he has built and instilled in his team, and the chemistry between our firms, have created enormous excitement about the opportunities before us.
“Chicago is a strategically important foundation city for Cushman & Wakefield, where we’ve done some transformative work on behalf of our clients, and we are looking forward to taking this even further under Jack’s leadership.”
The world’s largest agencies are striving for consolidation and market share. Cushman & Wakefield itself is currently on the market for $2bn and attracting the attentions of DTZ and Fosun. Only this week Savills Studley bought two US agencies – Cooper Brady Partners and Vertical Integration – whilst Lambert Smith Hampton bought niche retail agency Tushingham Moore.
