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van Layne, a top investment-sales broker at Newmark, has left the company to join Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds. He will work with Lone Star's head of North American real estate on acquisitions as part of a team led by Bob Ricci. This is not Layne's first stint at Lone Star; he previously helped arrange the sale of a multi-billion dollar portfolio of distressed real estate loans to the company in 2011.

    Layne began his career at Eastdil Secured, where he worked alongside top commercial brokers Doug Harmon and Adam Spies before joining Newmark with colleagues Brett Siegel and Jean Celestin. He reunited with Harmon and Spies when they joined Newmark last year, working on deals such as the $60 billion sale of Signature Bank's assets.

    Newmark's capital markets group has experienced some changes recently, including the departure of star broker Dustin Stolly in October after an extended leave of absence. Lone Star Funds, meanwhile, is one of the largest buyers of distressed real estate and recently raised a $5.3 billion fund to invest in distressed assets across different sectors.