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Chicago & Midwest  + Downtown  + Finance  | 

Investment Management Firm Conning Takes Majority Stake in Pearlmark

Global investment management firm Conning has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Chicago-based Pearlmark, a specialist investment manager of commercial real estate debt and equity strategies. Terms weren’t disclosed.  

First announced this past November, the deal calls for Pearlmark to continue operating autonomously with its investment team led by Stephen Quazzo and Doug Lyons. 

“Partnering with Pearlmark is the latest example of our strategy to add best-in-class capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our clients,” Woody Bradford, CEO and board chair of Conning, said last November. “Pearlmark has extensive real estate knowledge and significant experience successfully working with insurance companies and other institutional clients to help them achieve their real estate investment objectives.” 

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as a legal advisor to Conning on this transaction. CenterCap Group, LLC served as financial advisor and Drane & Freyer Limited served as legal advisor to Pearlmark. 

Pictured: Pearlmark CEO Stephen Quazzo.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

  • ◦Sale/Acquisition
  • ◦Financing
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