Local commercial real-estate firm Colliers Monroe Friedlander has sold a majority stake in the company to a subsidiary of Canada-based conglomerate FirstService Corp.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but senior management, brokers and other employees of Colliers Monroe Friedlander retain minority ownership of the business founded in Honolulu in 1973.

Assuming majority control of the Hawai'i company is Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Inc., a real-estate firm based in Seattle that does business as Colliers International and is owned by Toronto-based FirstService.

Andrew Friedlander, co-found-er and principal broker of Colliers Monroe Friedlander, said FirstService acquired 70 percent to 80 percent of the Hawai'i company, a FirstService practice geared to leave a vested interest with employees at companies in which it invests.

"The shareholders of Colliers Hawai'i are delighted," Friedlander said. "The combination of (Colliers Macaulay Nicolls) and FirstService provides us with the resources of a leading global organization while preserving our entrepreneurial culture and regional flexibility. We could not have found better partners."

FirstService is a diversified firm with more than 16,000 employees and $1.5 billion in annual revenue from businesses in commercial real estate, residential property management, security, home improvement and storage industries.

Publicly traded FirstService acquired majority ownership of Colliers Macaulay Nicolls in 2004.

Colliers Macaulay Nicolls operates 157 offices in 26 countries and reported about $700 million in annual revenue.

In Hawai'i, Colliers Monroe Friedlander has a staff of about 100 in two offices, and manages more than 5 million square feet of property. The company did not disclose annual revenue.

Colliers Monroe Friedlander was co-founded 34 years ago as Monroe & Friedlander Inc. by Friedlander and Donald Monroe.

In 1998, the company shifted from being an independent real-estate firm when it merged with Colliers International Property Consultants Inc., a global network of more than 200 commercial real-estate firms, of which Colliers Macaulay Nicolls is the largest.

Friedlander in 2005 stepped down as chief executive officer to become the company's principal broker. Morgan Stanley investment manager James Piane was named chief executive. Monroe at the time remained chairman of the board.

Friedlander said executive officers of Colliers Monroe Friedlander will not change with the acquisition.

The sale of a majority stake in Colliers Monroe Friedlander comes six months after the company's largest local rival was acquired by the corporate organization with which it was affiliated.

In December, Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. bought back its independently owned local affiliate, CBRE Hawaii, for an undisclosed price.

CBRE Hawaii employs about 110 people throughout offices in Honolulu, Kaua'i, Maui and the Big Island. The company reported handling 440 lease and sale transactions valued at nearly $450 million last year, and manages almost 8 million square feet of commercial property.

Colliers Monroe Friedlander reported handling about $600 million in transactions.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.