Insignia forms affiliation with Indianapolis firm.

Insignia/ESG, Inc., one of the nation's leading providers of commercial real estate services, announces the formation of an affiliation with Meridian Real Estate Services, Inc. of Indianapolis, a premier regional commercial real estate brokerage firm. The affiliation with Meridian is part of Insignia's nationwide program to forge alliances with leading independent real estate services companies in select markets where Insignia wishes to establish capabilities without owning the operations.

"Meridian was a perfect fit for us because of its outstanding reputation and strong market position in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana, particularly for tenant representation, industrial real estate and multi-market corporate services," said Dick Jones, Insignia's executive vice president in charge of the affiliate program. "We have spent a great deal of time getting to know Meridian, and in working together on assignments. The company is comprised of top-flight professionals who share our corporate culture, operating philosophy and approach to client service."

Michael Klein, executive vice president of Insignia's Midwest Region, noted there are particularly strong synergies between Meridian and Insignia's Chicago and St. Louis offices as well as the other Insignia U.S. and international operations.

"Our collaboration will expand our client-service resources and geographic coverage for both firms," he noted.

Founded in 1993, Meridian has 24 employees, including 16 brokerage professionals, engaged in a broad range of real estate transactional and consulting services. In addition to Indianapolis, the firm's market coverage included: Bloomington, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Muncie, Terre Haute and West Lafayette. Meridian is recognized as one of Indianapolis's most active tenant representation firms as well as one of the pre-eminent industrial real estate services companies in the region. The firm's professionals have completed more than 2,500 sales and leasing transactions, with an aggregate value of more than $3 billion. In 2001, Meridian completed 209 transactions valued at more than $162 million.

Meridian provides extensive landlord representation services (project leasing and disposition) for Magnum Resources, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, First Industrial and IBUS. It is also a specialist in multi-market corporate services, providing these services for such companies as Guidant Corporation, ITT Educational Services, Haverstick Consulting and ADESA Corporation. Its industrial clients include Quaker Oats, Zip Logistics and Emerson Electric.

As an Insignia affiliate, Meridian will operate as Insignia Meridian, and adopt Insignia's policies and procedures, operating platform and corporate governance protocols. "Our collaboration with Insignia will greatly enhance our ability to meet the growing needs of our clients outside the Indianapolis area," said Jeff Harris, Meridian's president. "Increasingly, our clients are turning to us for assistance with their global requirements. Insignia's internationally recognized full-service platform offers our clients best-of-class information, services and counsel on a worldwide basis. We will also benefit from Insignia's extensive relationships with corporate space users, many of whom have operations in the Indianapolis area."

Recently, Insignia and Meridian have collaborated on projects for such clients as AIMCO, Royal EBI, Colorado Prime Foods and Guidant Corporation.