In a move with echoes of the facilities management profession in the mid-eighties the two leading global corporate real estate organisations are in merger discussions. In a joint announcement to members, issued via their websites, IDRC and NACORE said both organisations had "long and rich heritages in serving the corporate real estate industry" but "the future points toward more convergence of these two entities."

NACORE and IDRC have a combined membership of over 6,000 although there is probably a high degree of overlap. They share common aims, both run strong certification and events programmes and both have moved into the international sphere from their US bases - setting up overseas chapters and forging strategic alliances. In the UK they have co-operated for the last four years on activities including the annual Corporate Real Estate Awards Dinner with this year's event held last week (see News 14th February).

The organisations now say that together, their combined leadership and memberships offer greater potential to advance the profession. The statement concludes: "NACORE and IDRC are moving forward in examining the possibility of joining the two organizations. Over the next few months the leaderships of IDRC and NACORE will be exploring the synergies and challenges that we would face as a merged organization. In order to obtain an objective, fully-informed perspective, Deloitte & Touche has been engaged to help facilitate the discussions and to develop a roadmap for a potential merger".

Richard Byatt