The brokerage industry is consolidating fast, and Real Brokerage just made the most ambitious move yet.
The Canada-based, AI-first brokerage agreed Monday to buy RE/MAX Holdings for roughly $880 million, with the combined company - Real REMAX Group - set to operate more than 180,000 agents across 120 countries. That puts the new entity within striking distance of Compass, which set the new ceiling last year by absorbing Anywhere Real Estate in a $1.6 billion deal.
REMAX shareholders can elect 5.152 shares of the new company per share or $13.80 in cash, subject to proration, with Real shareholders ending up at roughly 59% of the combined business and REMAX shareholders at about 41%. To finance the cash portion and refinance REMAX's existing debt, Real lined up a $550 million commitment from Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global.
REMAX co-founder Dave Liniger, who controls about 38% of REMAX's voting power, has already agreed to vote in favor of the deal, and closing is expected in the second half of 2026 pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Two very different business models are about to live under one roof. Real runs a single-entity, cloud-based brokerage with heavy bets on AI - including its reZEN transaction platform and Leo AI assistant - while REMAX is a global franchise network with around 145,000 agents and one of the most recognized brands in residential real estate.
In effect, Real is paying for distribution while REMAX is buying tech. CEO Tamir Poleg, who will lead the combined company from a new headquarters in Miami, called the merger a "transformational moment for the industry."
On a pro forma basis, the combined company would have done $2.3 billion in revenue and $157 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2025. Management expects the deal to add to earnings within the first full year after closing, with about $30 million in annual run-rate cost savings - most of it landing by the end of 2027.
Adjusted EBITDA, by the way, is a common measure of operating profit that strips out interest, taxes, and accounting items, and it tells investors how much cash a business throws off from its day-to-day operations.
REMAX and Motto Mortgage will continue to operate under their existing brand names within the new structure, and the combined entity will keep trading on Nasdaq under the ticker REAX.
Combining a tech-first brokerage with a franchise model is harder than the press release makes it sound, since franchisees own their offices and don't always love being told a new platform is coming. Execution risk is real.
Compass set the bar at 340,000 agents last year, and Real REMAX Group is now a credible challenger with a different playbook - one that takes the real estate industry from many players to a handful in less than a year.