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EXHIBIT 99.1
[LOGO] GRUBB & ELLIS(R)
Property Solutions Worldwide
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Janice Kalmar
847.753.7694
GRUBB & ELLIS COMPANY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION OF NEIL YOUNG;
SEARCH TO COMMENCE FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Departure comes at `right time' with company in best position in years
NORTHBROOK, Ill., May 30, 2000 - Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE) today
announced the resignation of Neil Young, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The resignation follows a three-year rebuilding program that focused on
transforming the company from a national transaction-focused brokerage firm to a
global, full-service provider of real estate services, returning Grubb & Ellis
to profitability and fueling 20 percent annual revenue growth.
Reuben S. Leibowitz, Managing Director of E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co, whose
affiliate owns approximately 46 percent of Grubb & Ellis, will serve as
chairman. A committee of the Board of Directors will be established to lead the
search for a new chief executive officer. In the interim, three members of
senior management: Maureen A. Ehrenberg, President of Grubb & Ellis Management
Services; John G. Orrico, President of Grubb & Ellis Real Estate Advisory
Services; and Brian D. Parker, Executive Vice President, will comprise an office
of the president and have day-to-day responsibility for corporate activities.
Young will continue to serve as a consultant to the company through the end of
2000.
"Neil was responsible for recruiting an experienced senior management team
and attracting a group of strategic investors that were committed to
implementing the changes necessary for Grubb & Ellis to be a leader in the real
estate outsourcing business." Leibowitz said. "Key to any service business is
people. Grubb & Ellis has assembled a talented group of real estate
professionals and armed them with the tools they need to cultivate long-lasting
contractual relationships that produce steady revenue growth."
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GRUBB & ELLIS ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
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"We want to thank Neil for his hard work and dedication, and for the
numerous personal sacrifices he made over the past four years while executing
the company's business strategy. He leaves with a sense of satisfaction,
knowing that he accomplished what he set out to do. The senior management team
is the right choice for building on the momentum that's been created and moving
the company forward," Leibowitz added.
Young joined Grubb & Ellis in 1984 as an industrial professional in the
company's suburban Chicago office. He held numerous management positions within
the firm prior to being named president and chief executive officer in February
1996. He was elected chairman of the board in April 1997.
"Grubb & Ellis has been part of my life for so long, it's not easy to say
goodbye personally or professionally. While I had the opportunity to lead this
rebuilding process, this was clearly a team effort. We couldn't have
accomplished all that we have in such a short time without the commitment of our
4,600 professionals and staff," Young said. "At the same time, my departure
comes at the right time. Grubb & Ellis is in the best position it's been in
many years; and the senior management team is committed to building on the
initiatives we've put in place."
Since 1997, Grubb & Ellis has made considerable investments to build a
platform that attracts the most qualified professionals in the industry and best
serves the real estate needs of its clients. These include strategic
acquisitions designed to broaden its service offerings and expand the company's
presence in key markets; more than doubling its management services portfolio to
150 million square feet under management, building a state-of-the-art technology
system that allows the professionals to communicate more effectively both
internally and with clients; investing in continuous learning programs designed
to upgrade the quality of the company's professionals; creating two customer
service units dedicated to serving the unique needs of multi-market corporate
and institutional clients; forming a global strategic alliance with U.K.-based
Knight Frank to provide Grubb & Ellis clients with consistent service throughout
the world and expanding its presence into 36 key secondary markets through a
national affiliate program.
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GRUBB & ELLIS ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
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The company also has steadily improved its financial results. Since fiscal
1997, Grubb & Ellis has generated a compound annual revenue and EBITDA growth
rate of more than 20% and 50%, respectively.
Grubb & Ellis Company is one of the nation's largest commercial real estate
service firms. Through its offices, affiliates and global strategic alliance
with Knight Frank, one of the leading property consulting firms in Europe and
Asia, the company provides a full range of real estate services, including
advisory, property and facilities management and consultative services, to users
and investors worldwide. With the collective resources of nearly 7,000 people
in 200 offices in 27 countries, Grubb & Ellis professionals arrange the sale or
lease of such business properties as industrial, retail and office building, as
well as the acquisition and disposition of multi-family and hospitality
properties and commercial land. Major multiple-market clients have a single
point of contact through the firm's corporate and institutional units for
coordination of all of the firm's services as well as site selection,
feasibility studies, market forecasts and research. For more information, visit
the company's website at www.grubb-ellis.com.
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