Grubb & Ellis' Sale and Bankruptcy

Grubb & Ellis sold its assets and entered into a prepackaged bankruptcy yesterday.  Here is a LA Times article on Grubb & Ellis' filing along with historical information on Grubb & Ellis as a company.  Hindsight is always clear, but it's hard to argue that the $725 million price that NNN Realty Advisors paid for Grubb in 2007 didn't signal commercial real estate's market top.  According to the LA Times article, Grubb is selling its assets to Newmark Knight Frank, which itself was bought by New York finance firm BGC Partners in October of last year.  A quote from the article:

"Following a thorough and rigorous process and the evaluation of all available options, we determined that a partnership with BGC provides the best platform for our brokerage professionals, employees and clients," said Thomas P. D'Arcy, chief executive of Grubb & Ellis.

"We believe the transaction will be seamless for our clients, and we expect no disruption to the company's operations. Furthermore, we believe our professionals and clients will benefit greatly by being part of the BGC organization, which, with its recent acquisition of Newmark Knight Frank, will bring together two strong brands to create a powerhouse in the commercial real estate space."

There was no mention of the status of Grubb & Ellis' current financial partners, Colony Capital and C-III, both of which invested in Grubb & Ellis over the past year.  BGC Partners, according to this New York Times Dealbook blog post, shares its CEO with Cantor Fitzgerald.