CB Richard Ellis announced Tuesday morning that it will purchase Trammell Crow for $2.2 billion.

CBRE already has more than 200 brokers — the most in New York — and now picks up 24 more from Trammell Crow, which has the 15th most brokers in the city, according to October 2006 statistics from the Real Deal.

The move offers a richer caveat: the acquisition now makes the firm Fortune 500 eligible — the first commercial real estate firm in the country that can make that claim.

CBRE officials said the acquisition was apart of a broader plan to define the firm as the elite brand in the city.

“Well targeted acquisitions have played a pivotal role in our strategy,” said Brett White, the CBRE CEO.

- John Koblin