DLA Piper advised Cushman & Wakefield, a global leader of commercial real estate services, in its acquisition of Massey Knakel Realty Services, New York’s number one investment sales firm by transaction volume for more than a decade.

The transaction will further strengthen Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets presence in the tri-state region. It is also representative of an ongoing consolidation trend in the commercial brokerage industry.

Sidney Burke and Alexandra Lauvaux, with the firm’s M&A practice in New York, led a multidisciplinary team that included: Erin D’Angelo (Employment), Frank Mugabi (Tax), Andrew Levy and David Szeker (Real Estate), Brittani Yriarte and Valentine Han (Corporate), all New York; Rita Patel (Benefits) in Washington, DC, and William Bartow (Intellectual Property) in Philadelphia. They worked closely with Cushman & Wakefield’s Global General Counsel, Gene Boxer, and North America General Counsel, Rick Cenkus.

The acquisition is expected to close by year-end 2014.