Voit Units to Form New Firm With Transwestern

Woodland Hills-based Voit Cos., one of Southern California’s largest real estate firms, said Wednesday that it has agreed to merge its property management operations with Transwestern Commercial Services, a nationwide real estate services firm.

The deal, which includes Voit Management Co. and Voit’s Valley Mechanical Services, would create a property management company with a portfolio of more than 90 million square feet and 1,450 employees. In the Western U.S., the merged operations would be called Transwestern Voit and would be based in Los Angeles. Terms of the merger were not disclosed.

Robert D. Voit would serve as chairman of the newly merged company. Paul Lentz, president of Transwestern’s Western region, would direct West Coast operations.

“We anticipate that this merger will inject the horsepower to grow the management company throughout the Western region much more quickly and aggressively,” Voit said.

The combination will boost Chicago-based Transwestern’s portfolio in the Western U.S. while allowing Voit Management Co. to provide a broader variety of services to its existing clients, said Mary Marx, senior vice president of Voit Management. She would serve as executive vice president of management services for Transwestern Voit.

No layoffs are expected as a result of the merger, Marx said.

Voit Management oversees a portfolio of about 20 million square feet in California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Utah. Valley Mechanical Services repairs and maintains heating and air-conditioning systems.

The merger, which is expected to be finalized in mid-October, excludes Voit Development Co., Voit Commercial Brokerage and Valley Commercial Contractors.