Breaking: Compass Inc. Acquires @properties, Christie’s International Real Estate
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Compass Inc. has announced plans to acquire @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, the Real Deal reported Monday. What this means, if anything, for Dallas-Fort Worth’s real estate scene is yet to be fully understood, but big picture this means the big players are growing fewer as these powerhouse brokerages merge nationally.
Compass is expected to pay $150 million in cash and roughly 44 million shares of its Class A common stock. The total transaction is valued at $444 million. The deal represents Compass’ third and largest acquisition to date, after it added Tennessee’s Parks Real Estate and Louisiana’s Latter & Blum to its portfolio earlier this year.
Christie’s International Real Estate — affiliated with the famed Christie’s auction house — has a network of 100+ independently-owned affiliates across 50 countries and territories. @properties is the 8th largest residential brokerage in the United States by sales volume according to RealTrends Verified rankings.
What Does This Mean for Texas?
As you know, @properties Christie’s International Real Estate has a large presence in Texas through @properties Christie’s International Real Estate Lone Star, with CEO Jerry Mooty at the helm.
A Compass press release listed only @properties operations in Greater Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Metro Atlanta through the Ansley Real Estate brand as part of the merger — NOT Texas. Actually, Compass had to revise the press release Monday after its first edition didn’t specifically name one of the powerhouse franchises, the Metro Atlanta group founded by Atlanta entrepreneur Bonneau Ansley, in the headline.
Now, here’s where we think we see the fine print for the deal’s Texas implications (paragraphs and bold added for emphasis):
“Christie’s International Real Estate has … 100+ independently owned domestic and international Affiliates across 50 countries and territories. @properties is … with operations in Greater Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Metro Atlanta (through the Ansley Real Estate Brand).
@properties’ Northern California operation, under the Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno brand, will become an independent brokerage while maintaining its network affiliation.”
Cross-referencing the offices listed on @properties Christie’s International’s website, it appears only Texas and the DC-area were not named in the Compass release. The territories aren’t crystal clear to us though, so there may be other brand affiliates excluded from the Compass acquisition. Each office is independently owned and operated.
“Christie’s International Real Estate’s Affiliate network and related brands will continue to operate as a separate business unit, as they have very successfully,” Compass told us. “This means Compass and Christie’s International Real Estate’s Affiliate network will maintain their independence, brand, and unique cultures.”
Compass says the core management team will remain in place post-closing, according to an investor presentation filed with the SEC.
Why the Acquisition?
The investor presentation helps outline Compass’ three-pronged strategy for the acquisition.
First, it’ll add new, high-margin businesses like Christie’s International and @properties’ title company Proper Title and mortgage business Proper Rate. Compass’ SEC documents show Christie’s has a 30-35% adjusted EBITDA margin business.
Second, the merger expands Compass’ “total addressable market” to include international and “from serving agents only to serving both agents and independent broker-owners,” the SEC filing states (note, this is a 171-page PDF).
This will mark a massive international expansion for Compass as Christie’s International Real Estate has a network of about 30 domestic and 70+ international affiliates across 50 countries and territories.
“This partnership will allow us to empower strong independent brokerages and broker-owner entrepreneurs around the world who are Affiliates under Christie’s International Real Estate,” Compass founder and CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement.
Finally, the deal “accelerates inventory strategy in key top 30 markets by add(ing) 8th largest brokerage in U.S. by sales volume.”
Christie’s will be the face of franchise operations, Compass documents show.
About @properties
Founded in 2000 by Thad Wong and Mike Golden, @properties acquired Christie’s International Real Estate in 2021 to expand its reach into luxury markets. The combined brokerage now boasts more than 13,000 agents and handles over $100 billion in annual transaction volume. In 2023, it recorded $22.61 billion in sales, according to the 2024 RealTrends Verified rankings.
Chicago-based @properties exploded onto the Dallas-Fort Worth market in July 2021, partnering with one of the most significant real estate-centric families in town: the Dallas Cowboys’ Jones family via his nephew, Jerry Mooty. Shortly after Mooty entered the DFW market, Chicago’s @properties in November 2021 acquired Christie’s International Real Estate and locally, the firm became @properties Christie’s International Real Estate Lone Star.
Since then, Mooty has been building the sales team from scratch and making significant progress. It has hired a heard of powerhouse agents and leaders including Eric Eversgerd in Dallas, Eve Henry in Frisco, Michael Hoover in Fort Worth, and launched a new Austin office. They also opened a brand studio for developers — The new Developer Services Division provides brand development and design, digital and social media marketing, and sales and consulting for busy developers who often are hands-on on-site, if you will.
