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Jones Lang LaSalle and Real Estate Disposition, LLC Launch Joint Venture with Comprehensive Commercial Real Estate, REO and Note Sale Auction Service

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 06:00 CDT

CHICAGO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to a growing need for owners, banks and servicers to quickly liquidate commercial property, real estate owned (REO) and both distressed and non-distressed commercial notes, Jones Lang LaSalle has launched a joint venture with Real Estate Disposition, LLC (REDC) to provide a sophisticated online auction sales platform that creates a market for optimal commercial property and note disposition. The joint venture merges REDC's unparalleled auction capabilities with Jones Lang LaSalle's global commercial property and note sale expertise.

"As part of our Value Recovery Services, we have been striving to provide our clients with new and inventive ways to re-balance their real estate portfolios through increased avenues to accessing capital. This is an important new development for our clients as they can now maximize the value of their assets in a timely manner without upfront fees," said Jay Koster, President of Jones Lang LaSalle's Capital Markets practice. "Using an auction opens up a viable trading marketplace given market pricing is transparent."

"Since 2007, REDC has led the residential real estate market with more than $5 billion in real estate asset sales at auction, including more than $3.4 billion in 2008 alone," said Jeff Frieden, CEO of REDC, "Leveraging our expertise along with Jones Lang LaSalle's commercial property and note sale proficiency will take us to a new level and bring what was once a 'behind the scenes' process to a much wider commercial audience."

The commercial property auctions will debut with a 100,000-square-foot commercial property sale in October.

"By offering this facility for auction, we will be able to increase the scope of our traditional outreach and expose the property to a much broader investor base," said Guy Ponticiello, Managing Director with Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Capital Markets. "The auction offers an efficient process that allows us to monitor real-time bidding, set reserve prices and control the final timing of sales. It gives the seller complete control of the options available in today's marketplace."

Investors can also auction notes of all property types and a variety of debt instruments including first liens, second mortgages, whole notes, and sub-performing or non-performing notes.

"With the default rate on commercial mortgages held by U.S. banks expected to rise to the highest level in 17 years in the fourth quarter of 2009(1), the smaller regional banks will have less time and government intervention to delay and pray much longer. They need a solution to move loans and property easily off their balance sheets now," said Bart Steinfeld, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle's Real Estate Investment Banking practice. "We expect the community banks to begin selling their small balance loans first, and our note auction platform will be a formidable tool for financial institutions seeking to consolidate and monetize loans of all sizes off their balance sheets."

Commercial note sale auctions are one of the most expedient ways to maximize asset value by accessing a much broader array of pre-qualified investors. The online format allows sellers to obtain maximum pricing through program efficiency and a transparent bidding process that sets a realistic benchmark for pricing through broader market exposure. In addition, sellers incur no upfront costs, including marketing of the property or notes. Buyers are pre-qualified and given full and complete access to a data vault of market intelligence that supports due diligence surrounding the disposition of assets. The auction platform creates pricing discovery for buyers and sellers alike, streamlines sales in a timely manner and provides closing certainty through a transparent process that meets all federal regulations.

"For many months, we have been seeking ways to capitalize those 'forgotten' or hidden assets on our clients' balance sheets. The ability to reach a wider audience of new buyers combined with a platform of proven results will create an unbeatable way to maximize recovery," said Mike Mounts, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle's Real Estate Investment Banking team.

Jones Lang LaSalle has a long history of auction sales as the firm's founder Richard Winstanley, started a commercial property auction house as an auctioneer in 1783. The firm has active in-house auction capabilities in the United Kingdom and Singapore, but this marks the firm's first commercial venture in the United States. Sales on the U.S. platform will be initially limited to domestic offerings.

Jones Lang LaSalle and REDC's first note auction launches fall 2009. Interested parties may now register online to receive commercial property and note auction updates and bid at www.jll.com/auctions or www.auction.com.

About Jones Lang LaSalle's Value Recovery Services

Through its Value Recovery Services, Jones Lang LaSalle is focusing and expanding its extensive expertise in all facets of commercial real estate to provide specialized services to clients that are affected by the current financial crisis. These services include advising financial institutions with troubled loans and foreclosed real estate (REO) on their balance sheets, including note sales and disposition of REO, as well as helping financial institutions address the operational, occupancy and cost reduction needs resulting from the rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions in that industry.

Additionally, the firm is providing loan work-out and receivership services, asset and property management, leasing and disposition services for clients with assets experiencing financial difficulties or foreclosure. The firm also is helping clients raise capital by monetizing owned facilities through sale-leaseback transactions and providing creative asset management and financial solutions to hotel owners and investors struggling in current markets, and assisting owners and lenders in developing asset value creation and recapitalization strategies for underperforming investment properties.

About REDC

REDC was established in 1990 and is the leading Real Estate Auction firm in the country. The company has established a dominant position in its industry by selling more than $5 billion in real estate assets at auction since May 2007. REDC's primary clients are residential mortgage lenders and home builders. The success of the company is based on the aggregation of lender-foreclosed assets that are marketed and sold in large event-style auctions across the country. Information about REDC auctions is available on www.auction.com. REDC is a Stone Point Capital company.

(1) Real Estate Econometrics

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2008 global revenue of $2.7 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 60 countries from 750 locations worldwide, including 180 corporate offices. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.4 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company's investment management business, is one of the world's largest and most diverse in real estate with more than $36 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit our Web site, www.joneslanglasalle.com.

SOURCE Jones Lang LaSalle

Source: PR Newswire

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