Newport Beach real estate investment bank Buchanan Street Partners is preparing to sell a majority stake in the company to Los Angeles-based TCW Group Inc., according to sources familiar with the deal.
TCW, an investment manager that’s part of France’s Soci & #233;t & #233; G & #233;n & #233;rale, is paying an undisclosed amount for a 51% stake in Buchanan Street.
The deal is expected to be finalized later this week and close by year’s end, according to sources.
Buchanan Street’s executive team, led by chief executive Robert Brunswick, is set to remain following the acquisition. Plans are for the firm to be run on its own from Newport Beach.
A deal with TCW, formerly known as Trust Company of the West, should provide Buchanan Street with an expanded base of potential customers, as well as more money for deals.
Buchanan Street, which invests in real estate and lines up financing for developers, worked on nearly $3.8 billion in deals in 2007. It expects that amount to reach more than $4 billion this year.
TCW counts $160 billion in assets under management, according to its Web site. The company’s clients include corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations, as well as foreign investors.
The company did not have real estate business prior to this deal.
Buchanan was started by Brunswick, Tim Hawthorne, Tim Ballard and Chris MacDonald. The partners named their firm after the San Francisco street where they met while working for Pacific Union Realty Finance.
The firm has its flair. Buchanan requires employees to read a set number of books each year. The partners once rented a major league baseball stadium for a game of softball for employees and customers. Last year, they took clients on an educational trip to Cuba.
“We don’t always act like a normal investment bank,” Brunswick said in an earlier interview. “But that’s a large reason why we’ve been able to get so many good people here.”
