Bigger is much better.(benefits of CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc.'s acquisition of Koll Real Estate Services Inc. on CB's operations in Cincinnati, Ohio)

At least it is for CB/Koll; it helped the local office recently score a huge deal

Business has always been big at CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based network of brokers.

The company's Cincinnati office has historically been one of the dominant players on the local brokerage scene, churning out multimillion-dollar deals seemingly every other week.

But in order to expand - to grab an even bigger slice of corporate America's real estate pie, says CB Managing Officer Ken Murawski, head of the local operation - CB had to get bigger.

Enter Koll Real Estate Services Inc., located about an hour's drive south from CB's headquarters, down the Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach, Calif.

Though it was one of the largest and best-connected brokerage firms in the world, CB Commercial decided a merger with Koll would provide …