In its efforts to position itself as the pre-eminent West Coast commercial brokerage firm, Kidder Mathews will be announcing today its merger with Los Angeles-based Heger Industrial, creating the largest independently owned commercial real estate firm on the West Coast.
Heger Industrial manages one of the largest independent portfolios of industrial properties in the Los Angeles area, employs 35 commercial real estate professionals and staff, and maintains offices in Long Beach, California, Commerce, California, and Phoenix, Arizona, according to a statement from the companies. The firm is led by Robert Thornburgh, CEO, and Tom Holland, executive vice president, who will both transition into executive vice president and partner roles at Kidder Mathews. Thornburgh will also join the Kidder Mathews executive leadership committee.
The new firm will retain the Kidder Mathews name and operating structure.
“We have been looking for the right opportunity to expand into Los Angeles and add to our regional offices in the San Diego, Orange County and Inland Empire markets,” said Kidder Mathews’ chairman and CEO Jeff Lyon. “Heger is an elite firm who was similarly looking for a like-minded partner to strategically expand their platform, and it soon became evident that this merger was highly accretive for both sides. Our cultures, vision, and approach dovetail perfectly.”
Thornburgh describes the merger as one that originated from an initial meeting with Lyon that was mainly focused on collaboration in the Southern California market. “They don’t have an office in Los Angeles, so I thought it would be great if Jeff would take a meeting with me to see how we can collaborate,” said Thornburgh. “What was supposed to be a 60-minute lunch turned into hours of discussion of how we could work together.”
Thornburgh describes his firm as one steeped in tradition and focused on maintaining focus on quality and growth throughout its six decades of work. This appealed to Lyon and his team as the two realized a common vision for growth and the future of the two firms.
The combined firm will have 20 offices across the Western United States. Lyon identified a couple of “holes” that he hopes the two firms will be able to fill shortly. An office in the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay is one that the firm is looking to open as well as one in West Lost Angeles. “We want to attract the right talent, and we’ll win our business,” said Lyon. He is confident that the firm’s culture and structure as a private organization led by 150 partners with none controlling the firm, as well as a competitive revenue structure (50/50 split for the first $125,000 and 90/10 thereafter) will attract the right kind of talent the company needs to continue its expansion.
“Both firms share a dynamic, entrepreneurial spirit. Merging Heger’s local presence, reputation, success and insights, with Kidder Mathews’ enhanced services platform and market reach only increases our total capabilities,” said Thornburgh.
“The Kidder Mathews professionals and leadership represent the same integrity and high standards that we have developed at Heger, giving both sides a strong desire to work together and grow,” Holland said. “Everyone in our firm is excited and extremely proud to join Kidder Mathews and to begin building toward the collective bright future of the merged entity.”
