Alison “Ali” Daubert is just over six months into her job as chief strategy and mergers-and-acquisitions officer at Lincoln Property Co., and she’s already completed a deal aimed at changing the commercial property firm.
In July, Daubert helped move across the finish line Lincoln’s acquisition of RiverRock Real Estate Group that expanded Lincoln’s property management presence in the West. The RiverRock deal, followed by Dallas-based Lincoln’s announcement days later that it formed a joint venture with retail investment group Paragon Commercial Group in greater Los Angeles, are part of a pivot in the firm’s growth strategy.
Daubert said she expects to play an important role in helping Lincoln Property with its ambitious goal to become one of the largest commercial real estate brokerages by adding services and focused business lines. Services such as property management often provide reliable, recurring revenue during times when transaction fees drop because fewer leases and sales are being completed.
"We are connecting all the tissues of Lincoln that exist coast to coast to create a behemoth of a real estate services company," Daubert told CoStar News. "In the past, we have been perceived more as a developer, but we are a full-service real estate firm, and we want to continue to bolt on best-in-class services."
Daubert is an accountant by training as well as an investment professional known for completing private equity deals. Now she enters the commercial real estate industry and is seeking to expand Lincoln’s services offerings during a time of turmoil for brokerage firms.
The earnings of several global brokerages have dropped this year as fewer deals get done. As a result, they’re counting on the lower-profile side of the business such as the management of property, facilities and projects to generate more reliable fees.
New Leadership Team
The addition of Daubert to Lincoln Property comes months after the appointment of David Binswanger and Clay Duvall as the 58-year-old company's co-CEOs, as well as a major investment from private equity firm Stone Point Capital designed to help Lincoln expand its business nationally and globally.
"With Ali at the forefront of identifying companies that complement our growth strategy and ensuring their successful integration, Lincoln will emerge as an active player in the M&A arena and as an acquirer of choice for companies that align with Lincoln's platform, culture and vision for the future," Binswanger and Duvall said in a statement.
Lincoln also hired Maria Stamolis as its new chief investment officer to play a key part in its growth.
Like other real estate investors, the tightening of lending has Lincoln looking at property types outside traditional real estate sectors, such as studio facility operations, to make investments off the beaten path, she said. In advisory businesses, Daubert said she often sees baby boomers seeking to retire without any heirs to the business or a succession plan.
Most recently, Daubert was a partner at Baker Tilly, where she oversaw acquisitions, sales and carve-out engagements where an investor acquires a minority interest in a company for private equity and corporate clients. During her time at the company, she founded its fund administration platform. She has participated in hundreds of transactions representing billions of enterprise value throughout her career.
Before her work at Baker Tilly, Daubert managed billions of dollars in private equity investments at Rubicon Technology Partners. She began her career at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Aggressive Growth Strategy
With Daubert's first M&A deal at Lincoln done, she's working on several potential deals. But the process can be challenging. When longtime owners of businesses sell companies they founded, it can be an emotional process, Daubert said.
"We are convincing people to take a part of themselves and hand it over to someone else," she said. "It takes time to build trust. It's like dating and then getting married; it takes a while."
Stone Point has underwritten an "aggressive M&A strategy" for Lincoln, Daubert said. So, Lincoln is looking for opportunities to add to its U.S. footprint and its presence in the United Kingdom and Europe. It now has offices in 35 cities outside the United States, including locations in London, Prague and Warsaw, Poland.
Daubert, who earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, describes herself as a "high-energy, focused, and goal oriented professional." She said she also "approaches each new business challenge with a flair for innovation and creativity."
Lincoln has a big goal ahead of it, Daubert said, and that's to become one of the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage firms.
"Everything is in play, we want operators with sticky relationships, great clients and talented professionals in all parts of commercial real estate," she added. "There's no asset class we aren't looking at at this point. We have no predetermined outcomes."