The Agnellis, Italy’s richest family, bought a majority stake in Cushman & Wakefield Inc., the world’s secondlargest commercial real estate brokerage, for $563 million.

The Agnellis’ Turin-based Ifil Group will buy a 67.5% stake from Rockefeller Group International Inc., a unit of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd., Cushman and Ifil said yesterday. Employees of New York-based Cushman will retain up to 32.5%, with the option of selling another 8.1% to Ifil.

“Having been weighted toward Europe, this investment adds great value to our portfolio,” the vice chairman of Ifil, John Elkann, grandson of the late Giovanni Agnelli, said at a New York news conference held at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center.

Ifil, the largest shareholder in Fiat SpA, Italy’s biggest carmaker, and Italian soccer club Juventus wants to expand abroad and is focusing on real estate and financial services. Cushman will get a new long-term shareholder as it seeks to extend in Europe and Asia. The company wants to increase revenue generated outside America to 50% from 38% by 2011, the chief executive officer of Cushman, Bruce Mosler, said.

Commercial real estate values have exploded in America, where the world’s largest commercial real estate broker, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., in October agreed to buy rival Trammell Crow Co. for $1.9 billion to more than double its property management business. The Bloomberg REIT Office Property Index has risen 39% this year and sales of Manhattan office buildings broke the $1,000-a-square-foot barrier for the first time this year.

“We’re ready to position Cushman & Wakefield to take full advantage of our opportunities, with a new partner, a partner who is in complete alignment with Cushman’s global business strategy,” Mr. Mosler said. The goal is “to enhance our stature as the global firm of choice.”

He said he expects the real estate industry in Europe and Asia to consolidate as it is in America and that Agnelli may help Cushman acquire new partners there. The brokerage has about 800 employees in China, including offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing, and 700 people in India, where it represents 40% of commercial tenants who pay for real estate services, Mr. Mosler said.

In America, Cushman plans to expand its mortgage brokerage business. The company has served 75% of Fortune 500 businesses, including AT&T Inc., Citigroup Inc., and MetLife, Inc.

Following the transaction, Cushman’s board will include Carlo Sant’Albano, Alessandro Potesta, Michael Bartolotta, and Pierre Martinet from Ifil and Mr. Mosler, John Cushman, and John Santora from Cushman.

Ifil shares trade on the Italian stock exchange, where the company has a market value of $8.9 billion. It is 69% owned by Giovanni Agnelli & C., a privately owned holding company. Ifil’s other automobile brands include Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.