For sale: Real estate franchisor’s shares

Re/max files for IPO for as much as $100 million and plans to trade on NYSE as U.S. property market bounces back

NEW YORK— Re/Max Holdings Inc., a franchisor of real estate brokerages, has filed for a U.S. initial public offering as the United States’ property market rebounds and shares of housing-services companies surge.

Re/Max, a Denver-based company that has more than 92,000 real estate agents globally, filed to raise as much as $100 million (U.S.), according to a regulatory filing Monday. The amount is a placeholder that will probably change. The number of shares and price range haven’t been determined, Re/Max said.

The U.S. housing market’s recovery from the worst crash since the 1930s is bolstering shares of companies that make money from home sales and searches. Realogy Holdings Corp., the Madison, New Jersey-based owner of the Century 21 and Coldwell Banker brands, raised $1.08 billion in an October IPO. The shares have climbed about 60 per cent since they started trading.

Shares of Zillow Inc., operator of the largest real estate information website, have more than tripled this year. The company went public in July 2011. Trulia Inc., the San Francisco-based residential-property listings website, went public in September at $17 a share and has gained about 170 per cent in 2013.

Prices for single-family homes climbed in 87 per cent of U.S. cities in the second quarter, the National Association of Realtors said Aug. 8. The median price nationally was $203,500 nationally, up 12 per cent from a year earlier. That was the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the Realtors group.

Homebuilder confidence surged in August to the highest level since November 2005. Housing starts rose in July, the Commerce Department said last week.

Re/Max, which reported revenue of $143.7 million for 2012, plans to list the shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RMAX. The company’s 6,300 offices are owned by agents or franchisees, according to the filing.

Re/Max was founded in 1973 by Dave Liniger and Gail Liniger, who remain majority owners, and is backed by private equity firm Weston Presidio. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing Re/Max’s share sale, according to the filing.

RE/MAX said that it plans to use the proceeds from the offering to acquire two franchisees that it currently manages, which will give it back the regional RE/MAX franchise rights that those businesses hold in the Southwest and Central Atlantic regions of the U.S.

Following the offering, shareholders will own all the Class A common stock in RE/MAX. Its existing owners, RIHI and private equity firm Weston Presidio, will hold all of its Class B stock.

RE/MAX said it believes it is poised to benefit from the “current U.S. economic recovery and the rebound in the U.S. housing sector.”