What is the effect of combining the real estate industry with M&A? Deborah Smith has over 25 years of M&A experience and shares insights into the niche world of real estate M&A, explaining the industry in a nutshell. Deborah discusses the returns in real estate compared to the stock market, the appeal of the US market for international real estate M&A, the importance of the exit strategy at the start of a transaction, and predicts future changes in the real estate M&A industry. This is a chat you won’t want to miss.
Co-Founder and CEO of The CenterCap Group, LLC | Florida & Stamford, Connecticut
Deborah Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of The CenterCap Group, LLC, and heads the firm’s Strategic Capital and M&A and Execution efforts. Deborah is responsible for the firm’s business operations and activities and participates in the firm’s management and valuation committees. Prior to forming The CenterCap Group, LLC, she was co-head of M&A and a Senior Managing Director with CB Richard Ellis Investors’ $40 billion AUM (Assets Under Management) investment management business. She joined CBREI in July 2007 to co-head the build-out of the firm’s M&A efforts and led the firm’s negotiation and acquisition of a majority interest in Wood Partners, one of the largest multifamily developers in the United States, in 2008.
From 1998-2007, Deborah worked on mergers and acquisitions with Lehman Brothers, Wachovia Securities, and Morgan Stanley. She has been involved in more than $100 billion of mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring transactions. Deborah has a Bachelor of Economics, with honors, and a Bachelor of Law, with honors, from the University of Sydney.