The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank name might not be such a mouthful to say anymore. As it turns out, the company, owned by Howard Lutnick's BGC Partners - who is also the parent company of Cantor Fitzgerald - will soon be changing to a much simpler name.
In fact, they might just reduce the company name to "Newmark," sources say. However, the New York Post reports that there have been rumors to use "Cantor" instead:
"There has been some push to use 'Cantor,' as Cantor Commercial Real Estate is already a separate financing firm, but that has met with resistance from the NGKF legacy brokers."
"We're working on the rollout of a brand that reflects the fact that we are all family," said Newmark Grubb Knight Frank chief executive officer Barry Gosin, who waned to disclose any information regarding the company's final name since the company is still in the process of filing paperwork and legal filings. "We are going to roll out one big brand," Gosin added.
The family company was originally known as Newmark & Co., but the Gural and Steinwurtzel families have already consolidated their family-owned properties under Newmark Holdings.
On the other hand, the much larger NGKF firm has continued to grow thanks to acquisitions and recruitments. As a matter of fact, the company currently owns or has undertakings with several other companies that - for various reasons - "have retained portions of their original names."
Newmark first ventured into the global industry in 2005, after the company entered into a partnership with the British-based company, Knight Frank.
Since the BGC Partners' acquisition in 2011, the company has further purchased other companies: Grubb & Ellis, Cincinnati Commercial Real Estate, Newmark Grubb Memphis, California-based Newmark Cornish & Carey, and Excess Space Retail Services, among others.
"It is one company and one consolidated ownership and all report to the CEO, but we have respected some individual brands for some period of time," one source revealed under anonymity.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is expected to announce its new name no later than March 31.