CBRE acquires industrial-logistics specialist M3

CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) has announced the acquisition of M3 Agency (M3), a leading industrial and logistics real estate services specialist in the UK.

M3 is regarded as the leading industrial real estate advisory specialist in the UK, with offices in London, Birmingham and Sheffield. M3 advises global clients on the investment, funding, occupancy, leasing and development of industrial properties.

Martin Samworth, Managing Director, CBRE UK, said: 'The acquisition of M3 builds on our leading position in the UK industrial agency and investment real estate services markets, and enables us to offer clients unparalleled insight into the sector. We continually seek opportunities to strengthen our presence in key service areas, so when the opportunity arose to acquire M3 we saw it as a very complementary fit for our UK business.'

M3 was founded in 2000 by ex-Gerald Eve agents Richard Moffitt and Simon Milner. The 20-person M3 team will be fully integrated into CB Richard Ellis, and adopt the CBRE brand. M3 has advised some of the biggest names in the UK industrial market, including Goodman, Gazeley, Prologis, Legal and General, CBRE Investors, Standard Life, BA Pensions, Blackrock and F&C.

The UK has been a dominant market in the industrial investment sector recently, accounting for more than half of the total industrial investment turnover in Europe in 2009. More specifically, the revival in European industrial and logistics investment in the latter part of 2009 was very heavily concentrated in the UK, accounting for 54% of European industrial transactions in the second half of the year. In an environment where investors are particularly focussed on quality and length of income as well as market depth, the UK continues to be particularly attractive, CBRE said.