Real-estate spinoff set to be based in Seattle

Seattle will soon be the headquarters of yet another large public company with global reach if plans to spin off commercial real-estate brokerage Colliers International from its Canadian parent company succeed.

Toronto-based FirstService Corp. proposed the spinoff earlier this month, telling shareholders they’ll be better off owning stock in “two strong industry leaders.”

Colliers is one of the world’s largest brokerages, with 502 offices in 67 countries. Its global headquarters is in downtown Seattle in the Two Union Square tower. FirstService itself is a big force in residential-property services, such as managing apartment complexes and homeowners associations.

Colliers, which booked nearly $1.6 billion in revenue last year, would be the city’s seventh-largest public company by that measure. Operating earnings for the commercial brokerage unit were $97.2 million, FirstService reported.

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The company traces its history to 1898, when a real estate, property management and insurance agency called Macaulay Nicolls was founded in Vancouver, B.C. An Australian property-services firm known as Colliers International merged with it in 1984.

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