Avison Young opens new office in Bucharest, Romania

Fast-growing Canadian commercial real estate services firm opens first office in Romania; David Canta becomes Managing Director, four members join

TORONTO, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that the company has opened a new office in Bucharest, Romania.

The new Bucharest office represents Avison Young's first office in Romania, 10th office in Europe, 80th office globally, and an additional step in the firm's ongoing aggressive global growth and expansion strategy.

Over the past eight and a half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 80 offices in 72 markets and from 300 to more than 2,400 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe. 

Effective immediately, David Canta becomes Principal of Avison Young's Bucharest operations and Managing Director of the new office. He will focus on overseeing the growth and development of Avison Young's presence in Romania, servicing new and existing clients, and managing the day-to-day operations of the office. Canta was most recently associate director and co-founder of commercial real estate brokerage firm Momentum Consulting in Bucharest. Before that, he was a broker with CBRE in Bucharest.

Also joining Avison Young from Momentum Consulting are: Gabriel Munteanu, Director of Valuation and Advisory; Alina Mocanu, Senior Associate; and Emanuel Romanu, Associate. Munteanu will be responsible for commercial real estate advisory and valuation work throughout Romania, while Mocanu and Romanu will focus on office leasing.

"The opening in Bucharest represents another milestone in our European expansion strategy," comments Rose. "We are thrilled to be launching our first office in Romania and our 80th location overall. Furthermore, we're delighted to have David Canta, who is a highly regarded commercial real estate professional, guiding our expansion program in Bucharest. He and his team have strong capabilities covering office, industrial and valuation assignments, and their experience and expertise will benefit our clients and company alike as we expand our footprint in the dynamic Bucharest marketplace. We couldn't be more pleased to have David, Gabriel, Alina and Emanuel on board."

Rose continues: "We believe that Bucharest is an underserved market, offering great potential for increased local, national and international investment. Bucharest, which has a young, educated workforce, is a gateway to Eastern and Central Europe and aligns well with our other European operations. The new Bucharest office will also enhance our ability to facilitate multi-market transactions on both sides of the Atlantic."

Canta specializes in landlord and tenant representation in the office and industrial property sectors, serving corporate clients and institutional landlords. During his career, he has served a wide variety of clients, ranging from landlords of office buildings and logistics space to entrepreneurs and corporations. While developing his practice, he has helped facilitate leasing transactions worth in excess of €100 million on behalf of leading fast-moving commercial goods (FMCG) companies as well as IT, advertising, finance, outsourcing and logistics firms. He has also gained expertise in commercial real estate company management.

At Avison Young, Canta will work closely with Hiren Thakar, a Principal of Avison Young and the firm's Senior Vice-President of Corporate Strategy.

"We were impressed by David's professional manner in meeting client needs," states Thakar. "A rising young industry leader, he is mature beyond his years and will fit well in our client-centric culture. We are already working on client assignments together. Furthermore, Romania is a stable, rapidly growing EU country that has become a destination for outsourcing and has a growing industrial base. David and his team are experienced in working with international clients and have been successful at completing assignments throughout Romania and Europe. He will continue to expand his team in the very near future here at Avison Young."

Effective immediately, Avison Young's new Bucharest office is located in GlobalWorth Plaza at 42 Pipera Road, Sector 2, Floor 2, within Bucharest's new central business district.

"On behalf of the team, we are delighted to join the Avison Young family and become part of the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm," says Canta. "Avison Young's entrepreneurial and collaborative culture resonates well with the way we conduct business in Romania. We believe that our clients will be better served by tapping into Avison Young's global resources. I look forward to working with my new colleagues in Europe and across North America."

Bucharest is the capital of Romania and its largest city, with a population of more than 2.2 million. The region's strategic sectors include ICT, automotive, aerospace, media and creative, retail, energy and environmental technology. A highly skilled, multicultural workforce makes Romania a very attractive destination for international service and production outsourcing. Several leading international technology companies, such as Oracle, HP, IBM and Microsoft, are located in Bucharest. Romania's post-recession economic stability has had a positive impact on all asset classes, positioning the country as one of the most vibrant commercial real estate markets in the Central and Eastern European region.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young acquiring Raleigh, NC-based Hunter & Associates, LLC on March 20, 2017, and Rutherford, NJ-based Cresa NJ-North/Central, LLC (CNJ) on March 6, 2017.

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Biographies

David Canta
David Canta was most recently associate director and co-founder of Bucharest-based Momentum Consulting, a commercial real estate brokerage and valuation services firm specializing in the office and logistics sectors. During his career, Canta has focussed on landlord and tenant representation in the office and industrial property sectors. While developing his practice, he has helped facilitate transactions worth in excess of €100 million on behalf of leading FMCG companies as well as IT, advertising, finance, outsourcing and logistics firms. In addition to serving corporate clients and institutional landlords, Canta has gained expertise in commercial real estate company management. Before co-founding Momentum Consulting in 2015, Canta was a broker with CBRE in Bucharest, where he specialized in office agency leasing (2013-2015). He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Griffiths School of Management, where he graduated first in his class.

Gabriel Munteanu
Gabriel Munteanu is a chartered valuation surveyor and member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Throughout his 16-year career in the real estate industry, he has held different roles, including head of valuation at Cushman & Wakefield and senior valuation analyst within the Real Estate Advisory Group (REAG) Bucharest office of American Appraisal (currently Duff & Phelps).

Avison Young is the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,400 real estate professionals in 80 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality properties.

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; cell: 604.726.0959
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028
• Hiren Thakar, Principal, Senior Vice-President of Corporate Strategy, Avison Young: 312.273.4500
• David Canta, Principal of Bucharest operations and Managing Director, Bucharest, Avison Young: +40 727 737 894

Avison Young's new Bucharest office is located at: GlobalWorth Plaza, 42 Pipera Road, Sector 2, Floor 2, Bucharest

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011 and requalified in 2017 to maintain its status as a Best Managed Gold Standard company

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SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

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