A major player in Lawrence’s commercial real estate industry soon will be getting a new name and a host of new signs across the city.

The Lawrence commercial real estate agents with Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group have moved over to Colliers International, one of the larger commercial real estate brokerage firms in the world.

“We feel like they’re one of the most recognized brands in the world, and we think that greater recognition will open some doors for us in Lawrence,” said Marilyn Bittenbender, a broker with the Lawrence office.

The company announced the deal today, and the change became effective immediately.

Colliers — based in Seattle — bought a majority ownership position in The Winbury Group, which was based in Kansas City, Mo., but also operated the Lawrence office. The deal does not involve Grubb & Ellis, which is a national commercial real estate firm that had a franchise agreement with The Winbury Group.

Bittenbender said operations at the Lawrence office are expected to be largely unchanged. The office will remain at 805 N.H., and brokers Kelvin Heck and Allison Vance Moore both will continue with the company.

Signs across the city will change, however. The black and yellow Grubb & Ellis signs will be replaced with blue Colliers International signs in the next 30 days.

The Kansas City deal continues a trend of Colliers buying commercial real estate firms in major U.S. markets. The company has expanded into nine other metro areas this year, including Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C. In total, Colliers has 480 offices in 61 countries.

“Having greater connections to an international network was important to us,” Bittenbender said. “These days, a company in Lawrence may have a presence in China or Ireland or Denmark or Germany. We’ve seen all of those examples here in Lawrence.”