Colliers Hires Hideki Ota to Head Japan Capital Markets Team

Colliers International has hired Hideki Ota from rival property brokerage JLL to lead its Capital Markets & Investment Services (CMIS) team in Japan, based in Tokyo.

The company announced that Ota will oversee the operations of the CMIS business as Head, reporting directly to Colliers Japan’s Managing Director Katsuji Tokita. In the newly created role he will coordinate all major mandates and will be responsible for client strategies involving real estate investment in Japan.

The hire comes as NASDAQ-listed Colliers raises its profile in the world’s third-largest economy. Colliers launched its wholly owned, company-branded business in Japan last September, ending its 20-year affiliate relationship with partner KK Halifax in the country.

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“I’m delighted that Ota-san has decided to join our rapidly growing Japan business,” commented David Hand, CEO Asia Pacific for Colliers in a statement. “Attracting strong leaders and proven deal-makers of Ota-san’s calibre will immediately help us accelerate our clients’ success in one of the world’s largest real estate markets.”

Prior to taking the new role, the more than 20-year advisory and banking veteran served as regional director with JLL’s Capital Markets team, having joined the brokerage in 2010. Ota previously held senior real estate roles in the banking sector with Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Sumitomo Trust Bank.

Colliers Japan’s CMIS team advises on property transactions across office, retail, business park, residential and industrial assets. Tokyo recorded $16.5 billion of income-producing property deals in 2017, according to Real Capital Analytics, making it the second-largest metropolitan market in Asia, although the figure slumped 12 percent year-on-year.

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Ota’s appointment “is part of our long term growth plan as Colliers is committed to growing its Japan business across all service lines,” a representative of the agency commented to Mingtiandi.

Colliers is bolstering its business elsewhere in Asia Pacific, expanding its project management capabilities in mainland China six-fold by acquiring Shanghai-based SIP Group in March. And in Australia, the agency brought in Joe Lin for the newly created role of National Director of Asian Markets in Sydney, in a move to better serve inbound institutional investors from Asia.