Colliers (CIGI-T) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Triovest's Canadian commercial real estate services platform from Coril Holdings. 

Colliers confirmed the transaction in an announcement Tuesday morning. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close this quarter, weren’t disclosed.

Calgary-headquartered Coril is a privately owned asset manager that also owns Minnesota-based global railway inspection, maintenance services and equipment manufacturing company Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.

“After many years as a privately held company, we believe now is the time to accelerate Triovest’s growth by merging its operations with Canadian-based Colliers, one of the top global players in commercial real estate,” Coril president and chief executive officer Deanna Zumwalt said in a statement.

Colliers Canada president and CEO Brian Rosen told RENX in an interview that his company and Coril began talks toward a transaction last year. Coril was interested in selling and Triovest had been a longstanding Colliers client with which it had built familiarity and good relationships.

“It has been great to get the leadership teams together to be able to meet and connect and discuss the opportunities between the different organizations coming together,” he said.

Colliers and Triovest’s businesses

Colliers is a publicly traded, global diversified professional services and investment management firm that operates real estate service, engineering and investment management platforms. 

The company had revenue of US$4.82 billion, a team of 23,000 people and $99 billion in assets under management at the end of 2024. It has consistently delivered approximately 20 per cent compound annual returns for shareholders over the past 30 years.

Triovest was founded in 1995 and provides asset, property and development management, as well as advisory services, for all major commercial real estate asset classes. 

The company manages 36 million square feet, oversees $2.5 billion in projects under development for institutional and private clients, and generated approximately $70 million in revenues last year.

Triovest fits well with Colliers

“We have a mindset of being a decentralized, enterprising business and Triovest shares many of those traits,” Rosen said. “That's why it's a great combination.”

Triovest will rebrand as Colliers and merge its operations to solidify Colliers’ position as Canada’s largest commercial real estate services firm. The combined Canadian operations will employ more than 3,000 people, manage over 95 million square feet of commercial real estate and oversee more than $15 billion in projects under development. 

“We're a Canadian institution but we have a global reach and global platform,” Rosen said. “So being able to add that to what they've already been able to build to accelerate their platform, their existing relationships and the business they have is exciting.”

It will be a thoughtfully planned transition that will extend and grow Colliers’ business, according to Rosen.

“Triovest is one of the leading players in the third-party property management field, so the ability to add that and get pretty close to 100 million square feet of commercial real estate being managed across Canada, coast to coast — and being able to add a breadth of new clients, new capabilities, new people on to the team and new assets under management — was really exciting,” Rosen said.

Triovest’s addition will also strengthen Toronto-headquartered Colliers’ asset management capabilities and development advisory business, Rosen added.

Rosen wouldn’t comment on whether the acquisition would cause any job losses due to duplication of duties, services or other reasons.

“We make acquisitions because we're focused on the talent and growth potential, and we're in a professional services business that’s focused on growing,” Rosen said. “People are a critical part of that.”

Triovest will be a complementary addition to Colliers

Triovest has been headed by president and CEO Ted Willcocks since September 2020.

“We are really excited about joining Colliers. Being part of Colliers' global network gives us access to more resources and international relationships that will benefit both our clients and our team," Willcocks told RENX. "Both companies have deep roots in Canada and a long track record of success, and I believe the Triovest platform we’ve built will be a strong, complementary addition to Colliers’ Canadian business.”

Zumwalt elaborated in her statements on another reason why she supports Colliers’ acquisition of Triovest:
 
“As a significant owner of commercial real estate, Coril will continue to work closely with Colliers, its professionals, and our former team members for our real estate needs.”

Acquisition part of Colliers’ continued expansion

The Triovest acquisition joins others that Colliers has made worldwide over the past couple of years to expand and diversify its business.

Colliers invested US$475 million to acquire a controlling interest in another Canadian company — Toronto-based multi-discipline engineering, environmental and inspection services firm Englobe — in July 2024. Englobe subsequently acquired Goodkey, Weedmark & Associates Ltd., an Ottawa-based building engineering consulting firm, in October.

Colliers announced in February it was acquiring a controlling interest in Ethos Urban, an urban planning and design advisory firm in Australia. It also purchased two other Australian companies — transportation engineering consultancy TTM Group and engineering consulting firm Pritchard Francis — last year.

Colliers also took ownership of a former affiliate in the United States, commercial real estate services firm Colliers Philadelphia, last April. 

Rosen said Colliers has solid liquidity and capital ready to deploy for further growth. 

“We're always looking for a good opportunity to grow our platform, whether it's in traditional real estate services or in the broader professional services — our engineering, investment management and mortgage and debt business. Those are all interesting vectors for us to grow the business.”