Scott Murdoch’s niche retail firm CWM has teamed up with US-based real estate firm RKF.
CWM and RKF said that the alliance sets the stage for them to leverage their brands to build a greater presence in key cities outside the UK and Europe.
RKF has acquired CWM’s New York City office as part of the agreement. Its current staff, including Simon Gibbs and Ryan Kelleher, will join RKF.
In addition, CWM and RKF have each committed to an exclusive relationship involving shared business referrals within the US and the UK.
CWM was founded in 1992. It represents both landlords and tenants, including Hugo Boss and All Saints.
Headquartered in Manhattan, RKF has offices in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Northern New Jersey, and San Francisco. It was founded in 1998 and now has a team of around 150 staff.
Both RKF and CWM will continue to own their respective offices in both the US and the UK.
The pair are also planning to launch an office in Hong Kong.
Scott Murdoch, founding partner of CWM, said: “We are delighted to have forged this strategic partnership with RKF, which is one of the strongest and most ambitious retail services firms in the States. While our relationship with Robert and his team will yield immediate benefits for both firms in the US and Europe, we also plan to work with RKF on building a joint presence in Asia, where CWM has already established a beachhead.”
RKF chairman and chief executive Robert Futterman added: “Our strategic partnership with CWM represents a critical part of our global strategy to expand RKF’s reach into key cities throughout Europe. The symbiotic nature of this relationship cannot be overstated: Our US-based retail tenants and investors will immediately gain access to the European markets via the CWM platform; CWM, in turn, will introduce their European-based retail tenants and investors to the US market through our vibrant national platform here.
“As our retailer and ownership clients have in recent years entered key urban markets overseas, they have increasingly turned to us seeking representation in these places. Now we are in a position to offer them the same high-level service in the UK and Europe that once we could only deliver here in the US.”
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
