Welllll...that's a little awkward.
Apparently, the markets heard Next Chapter Partners was joining Real. You're welcome, shareholders. 🤣🤣
I kid, I kid.
My educated guess is that the actual reason for the excitement is considerably bigger than Brad and me changing the name of the brokerage behind our brand.
On August 14th, shareholders of both Real and REMAX overwhelmingly approved Real's proposed acquisition of REMAX, clearing one of the final major hurdles in a deal that has the potential to reshape a pretty significant piece of the real estate industry. Real shareholders approved the transaction with 99% support, while 79% of REMAX shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition. The deal has already cleared federal antitrust review and is now moving through the remaining steps toward closing.
For anyone wondering why this matters: this is so much more than one real estate company buying another. Real has built its growth around technology, innovation, collaboration, and a model designed for the way agents increasingly want to run their businesses. REMAX brings one of the most recognizable brands in real estate, more than 50 years of history, and an enormous international franchise network.
Put these two together, and you're looking at more than 180,000 real estate professionals across more than 120 countries and territories. On a pro forma basis, the combined businesses would have generated approximately $2.3B in revenue in 2025.
However, what is most interesting to me is what they plan to do with it. Real CEO, Tamir Poleg talked about the opportunity to combine Real's technology and growth with REMAX's incredible brand and global scale, creating more resources to invest, innovate, and build for the future. Real's technology and operating model aren't replacing the REMAX brand. REMAX and Motto Mortgage are expected to continue operating under their existing brands, while Real continues operating under the Real name. The larger organization will sit above them as Real REMAX Group.
As a team who recently spent an embarrassing amount of time researching where we wanted to take Next Chapter Partners next, this is exactly the kind of thing that caught our attention. We were not looking for a different logo to put next to our brand. Instead, we wanted to understand which companies in this industry were actually thinking about what real estate could look like five or ten years from now.
Advanced technology, scalability, leadership, and having access to a massive network of talented agents were all top priorities in our search. It was equally important to us to align with a company that has the resources and appetite to continue investing, experimenting, and adapting as the industry continues to change and evolve.
Of course, none of those things will automatically make the company successful. Acquisitions are complicated, integrations are hard, and bigger does not always mean better. There is plenty of work ahead if the organization is to realize the potential of this combination. We know this. At the same time, it's impossible to not be excited about the possibilities.
We partnered with Real because we believe in where the company is going. Strategically, we are joining Real at a particularly interesting time in the journey.
For the record, I am going to keep telling myself the stock price bump was due to our announcement. Please don't go ruining this moment for me with facts. 🤣
